


Running with the Weasley Twins

by Huffleton_Puffleton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Can be read alone, F/M, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Inspired by Fanfiction, slightly alternate canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 03:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10234565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huffleton_Puffleton/pseuds/Huffleton_Puffleton
Summary: Based on solitaireclay07's "Nobody Sees Me Wishing" (FFN).Each chapter shows a glimpse of a year Cathy Bennett has spent running with the Weasley twins.





	1. First Year

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Nobody Sees Me Wishing](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/58719) by solitaireclay07. 



_First Year_

"Hi", she managed to squeak, _please leave me alone_.

"Hello", one of them said questioningly. She wasn't surprised since they obviously hadn't seen her as they were coming in.

Catherine Bennett was busy drowning her emotions in hot chocolate and apple slices when the Weasley twins barged into the kitchens. At the time, she'd been terribly homesick, and following the advice of an upperclassman, snuck into the kitchens. Now, all thoughts of home were erased as she stared in fright at the imposing upperclassmen, half an apple slice making her cheek bulge incriminatingly.

"What do we have here? A first year out of bed and _in the kitchens_?" one of the boys teased.

"Aw, look, Fred, she's already scared," the one not called "Fred" said, elbowing his twin to stop. "So, how'd you find the kitchens, then?" he said, turning to Cathy who was slowly chewing and swallowing the apple slice.

"I'm…I'm a Hufflepuff," she replied, shrugging.

"Of course," said Fred, shaking his head and chuckling, "I'm Fred Weasley, by the way"

"And I'm George. We're second years-", said not-Fred.

"-and Gryffindors", added Fred.

"I'm Catherine Bennett, it's nice to meet you", she offered a hand, which the twins each shook.

"Well, Cathy, what're you having?" said George as he took a seat on Cathy's left and Fred took one on her right, effectively making her feel crowded in. _Lord, why?_

"Hot chocolate and apple slices", she mumbled and, bracing herself, added: "Could you please, um, not lean in so much? It's just…you're both a bit too close."

"Oops, that does tend to happen", George said, and they both gave her some more breathing space.

"Homesick, eh?" Fred asked. Until then, he'd been asking the house elves to fix him and George up with some pancakes.

"How'd you…? Yeah, I've never been away this long before"

"Hmm…three weeks?" asked George, taking a plate of pancakes from a house elf.

"Yup, and at home, it's just me and my mum too, so she's all alone right now", Cathy found herself slumping onto the table. While Cathy's policy was to always be honest with how she was feeling (she found that pretending often led to more misery for herself and others involved), sometimes it still bothered her to show negative emotions. "Sorry for being a killjoy. You two were probably expecting to have fun sneaking out tonight."

"Well, yeah…" started Fred, but trailed off at the look George gave him.

"But it's fine, we were just getting pancakes, really", finished George.

"I'm done with these now", Cathy gestured to the empty mug and plate, "So, I should probably get going anyway."

"Hold on!" George exclaimed, and then signaled to his brother that he wanted to talk in private.

Cathy was left to sit, contemplating her homesickness. A few feet away, the twins were talking in hushed whispers. Every now and then, a few words and phrases would find their way to Cathy's ears.

"…homesick…" this one, George.

"…first year…" countered Fred.

"…train…the map…Marauders…" George argued.

"…wicked…but still…" Fred, again.

Finally, the two broke apart, and sauntered over to Cathy, wearing identical grins. They returned to their respective seats, and Cathy pretended she hadn't heard a word.

"So…" she began, growing worried over their suspicious expression.

"Catherine Bennett-" Fred began, rushing through Cathy's name.

"-We've decided-" George continued, then paused, glancing at his brother.

"-To invite you to join in on one of our soon-to-be legendary pranks", finished Fred.

"I…what?!" Cathy's eyes widened again.

"Look, there's no point beating around the bush. You've probably heard of us by now," Fred said, grinning proudly.

"Not re-"

"It would be fun!" George interrupted, "Just one harmless prank, and you'll be the talk of the whole school! Running with the Weasley twins! Pulling pranks and shenanigans and getting away with it! And you only have to do it once…unless, of course, you get a taste for it", George smirked slyly.

"Wait, okay, hold on. So, you two are famous at school for pranking people-"

"-and other forms of mischief in general", Fred cut in, seeming nonchalant about the exclusion, though he did care.

"Yes, anyway, and you want me to join you on one of these pranks…because I'm homesick?" Cathy wanted to thank them for being considerate (at least, she supposed they were being kind), but didn't know how to do it without acquiescing to their request. Besides…"I'm not a charity case, you know."

"We didn't mean to-" George insisted.

"We only meant-" Fred added.

"But…" despite everything, "What _did_ you have in mind?" Cathy couldn't deny her curiosity.

* * *

" _Just_ , oof, _hold still!_ " Cathy whispered harshly. The details were fuzzy, but somehow, she was now hiding in a broom closet squeezed between the Weasley twins.

" _Lumos_ ", one of the twins whispered into her right ear. A harsh white light flooded the small space, revealing their wild, smiling faces.

" _Okay, no, that's_ definitely _going to give us away_ "

" _She's right, George."_

George dropped the spell and again the closet was dark. Cathy could feel it, then. Years later, whenever she questioned why she ran with the twins, she would think back to this moment and realize that she regretted nothing. It was as simple as three hearts racing in time with each other; three crazy grins, smiling unselfconsciously; six sweaty hands, trembling in anticipation; three bated breaths.

Besides, they'd gotten caught that day. She got detention that weekend (as a first offender), while the twins had gotten a week's worth. Cathy figured she was bound to have a reputation already.

"If…if you still need an accomplice for the next one, you can sign me up"

* * *

Cathy Bennett, as the twins would discover later on, was named after Catherine Morland, the protagonist of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. After all, her mother, Ivy _Elizabeth_ Bennett had decided to carry on her mother's tradition of naming her children after Jane Austen characters. Still, it had upset Cathy to be named after a character so bland, so unimpressive (especially compared to Elizabeth Bennett), so "almost pretty", so much like herself, really. And to add insult to injury, she had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Her mother had reasoned (in an attempt to console her) that Hufflepuff was full of kind and wonderful people, and that Cathy truly was one of them. But Cathy's thoughts flew to her father.

Yes, though (through much pestering from friends and concerned relatives) Ivy chose to change Cathy's surname from Black to Bennett, eventually her little girl had started asking questions. Ivy thought it best to warn her, before entering Hogwarts, that some unkind people would be whispering behind her back.

She knew who her father was. She knew what he was like, how her parents had met, how happy he had been when she was born, and how devastated and furious he was at being taken from his family. She was told she had his hair, his eyes, and (unfortunately) his intense eyebrows, but that she looked like her mother. She was told he had been framed, and everyday she had to remind herself that he had been framed. Eventually, after a ministry hearing that cleared her mother's name, people stopped ostracizing her mother, opting to pity her instead, an innocent victim of her father's treachery. For the sake of her child, Ivy went along with it, but as soon as someone would insult Sirius, or even so much as mention him in contempt, Ivy would stand up and leave.

It was just Ivy and Cathy in their little house. Ivy had moved soon after Sirius was taken away. Occasionally, visitors would arrive: her Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Liam, and their little kid who was too young to be company for her; once a strange man who had been her father's friend had arrived, but that was the only time Cathy could recall seeing him, he was always staring balefully at her and her mother.

So, Cathy grew up quickly, helping her mother around the house, consoling her when birthdays and wedding anniversaries came, really it shouldn't have been any surprise that she'd been sorted into Hufflepuff. But Cathy couldn't help it. She would always wonder what her father would think.


	2. Second Year

Cathy had been dreading this day since summer break started. It was the day she'd have to return to school. Cathy liked school. She also loved her mother, and particularly knew that her mother needed her, but Cathy was always so lonely at home. For her twelfth birthday that summer, her mum had gotten her her very own owl, but even Grumpus (a small brown burrowing owl with a perpetual scowl) wasn't company enough. However, this year, she'd have to face the twins again, and from their letters, she knew they'd mentioned her at home. No doubt, their parents had told them about her relation to Sirius Black. How did they feel about her now? Their letters didn't indicate any change. Then again, all three of them were quite terrible at writing each other. Now she was standing right by the Hogwarts Express, saying goodbye to her mum, nervously wondering where she should sit. With her roommates? With the twins?

"Cathy", her mother began for the nth time that day, "Are you sure you're alright?" Ivy Bennett had been noticing her daughter's agitated state since the week counting down to that day had begun.

"Yeah, er…just getting used to the whole living in two places at once thing, I guess", Cathy thought it best to lie. She didn't want to worry her mum, and worse yet, didn't want her to know what was really bothering her.

"Oh, Cathy", Ivy put her hands to Cathy's cheeks. She couldn't help but notice how grown up she'd gotten; her little baby. "Don't worry. Whenever you need me, you could just send Grumpus." Ivy couldn't help but chuckle at the name.

"I know that, mum", Cathy said, laughing along, albeit nervously. Ivy pulled her into a hug.

"If it's about the rumours…" Ivy began hesitantly.

Some time ago, word had gotten to the Bennetts that Harry Potter was starting his first year at Hogwarts. He would be on that same train, in that same castle…all year long, and so would she, and for the next five years as well. It was another reason for Cathy to be nervous and scared, but not one she wanted to think about. She pushed it to the furthest recesses of her mind. Besides, Harry Potter was barely a name to her, she couldn't even put a face to the name. The twins, on the other hand, had been an owl away all summer. Still, what if the Potter boy knew about her father?

"I'll be alright, mum. We've been through this before, right?" said Cathy, pulling away to look her mum in the eye.

"Alright, write as soon as you can?"

"I promise"

* * *

Cathy made her way down the corridor in search of her roommates. She told herself it would be better to avoid the twins for now and see how they would react to her when they passed each other in the halls. She knew it was the coward's way out, but she just couldn't bring herself to face them.

"Ron Weasley", Cathy jumped as she heard the disembodied voice from the compartment she was bracing herself against. She mentally cursed her roommates for choosing a compartment so far away. She turned to peak into the compartment, and sure enough, inside was a redheaded boy who must've been Fred and George's brother. They mentioned him in one of their letters too.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter", said the boy across from the boy called Ron. Cathy's heart leaped to her throat. She turned away and pressed her back to the wall beside the compartment's sliding doors. _Merlin's beard, nonononono!_ Cathy walked as fast as she could further down the corridor until she found her roommates. She evened out her breathing, smoothed her dark hair (curly, so it was perpetually messy anyway), and entered.

"Cathy, you look like you've seen a ghost!" cried Lisle Ainsley, a tall, chubby brunette, and one of Cathy's roommates. She was on the window seat on the left side of the compartment. The other four were Paige Zhang, Samantha Jones, Annabeth Smith, and Norah Anand.

"I just…I saw Harry Potter", Cathy managed to say. One of the things Cathy loved most about Hufflepuff was that the rumours were true. It really was such a friendly and accepting house. Helga Hufflepuff did say she would "take the rest", indiscriminately. That said, her roommates had never judged or shunned her based on her parentage. Immediately, her roommates peppered her with concerned remarks and questions?

"Oh, honey"

"Are you alright?"

"How do you feel?"

Cathy took the empty seat beside small and skinny Paige, who rubbed her back comfortingly. Beside Paige, Annabeth (tall, blonde, Amazonian) piped up with a: "What did he look like?"

"Annabeth" chastised Norah who sat beside Lisle, across from Paige. She was their designated den mother, something none of them talked about, but all silently agreed with. Presently, she fixed her large brown eyes on Annabeth. "That's not the priority."

"It's fine. He looks…I don't know, I barely got a glimpse, but…ordinary? Glasses? Messy hair?" Cathy shrugged absently, then covered her face with her hands, resting her elbows on her knees. "Do you think he knows about me?"

"Oh, Cathy…" Sam, who had been twirling her long dark curls around one finger, reached over to pat Cathy's head. "Whatever happens, we'll have your back. You've done nothing."

"Thanks, Sam", Cathy leaned back into her seat. She decided she'd done the right thing by sitting with them. She was so glad to be a Hufflepuff, even though she'd long ago accepted that she couldn't convince people of her father's innocence. "Thanks, guys."

* * *

It had been a week since school started. Cathy was relieved that Harry Potter had been sorted into Gryffindor. She was much less relieved that she hadn't spoken to the twins since last owling them over break. Other than that, nothing had changed. As it turned out, Harry was oblivious to her existence.

"Cathy", Cathy turned sharply at the familiar voice. She'd been reading in the common room, curled comfortably on a large fluffy couch. It was hard to ever be uncomfortable in the Hufflepuff common room. Cathy found Norah behind the couch, apparently, having just entered.

"Yeah?" Cathy moved to kneel on the seat, looking over the backrest at Norah, who was too short to be seen over the high backrest.

"The Weasley twins gave me this…to give to you", Norah handed Cathy a slip of parchment, carefully folded. Her light eyes bulged out as she gingerly took the message, unfolded it, and read its contents.

 _Outside Gryffindor tower. Midnight. Don't let the Fat Lady see you._ It was undoubtedly Fred Weasley's messy scrawl.

"Right, thanks, Norah", Cathy smiled as though nothing were amiss. If the twins were planning on confronting her about her parentage, she didn't want Norah (and thus her other friends) to know, since they would dissuade her from going. If they were planning the school year's first prank, which Cathy desperately hoped was the case, she didn't want anyone to find out either.

"Why didn't they just give it to you?" Norah asked, not meanly, just genuinely curious.

"I've maybe been accidentally avoiding them. It's not that hard. Different years, different houses." Cathy shrugged apologetically.

"You lot were inseparable last year"

"Don't worry about it. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled pranking in no time", Cathy threw a mischievous grin over her shoulder as she returned to a sitting position on the couch, but inside she was wishing she was right.

* * *

She was right.

"Cathy, this is our brother Ron-" said Fred.

"-and his friend, Harry", said George.

"Ron, Harry, this is our friend, Cathy-" George, again.

"She's a second year Hufflepuff", Fred, this time.

Cathy forced herself to breathe normally. It was midnight, and she had been waiting for the twins at the agreed upon spot, when they'd exited the Gryffindor common room with the two younger boys. They found her hiding outside the Fat Lady's range of vision, then ushered her and the first years down several flights of stairs further and further away from Gryffindor tower. Now, her worse nightmare had come to life. She was standing in front of Harry Potter, in her pyjamas, with no professor around to stop him from cursing her into oblivion.

"Hello", she said, though she wondered if they could hear her whispered greeting over the pounding of her heart. She stiffly extended a hand for them to shake. They each greeted her and shook her hand. Their friendliness put her at ease, and finally, her heartbeat evened.

"Alright, now that's settled", George said, clapping his hands together.

"In here", Fred said, opening the door to an empty classroom. They followed him inside and formed a circle with some chairs.

"Cathy", George started with mock seriousness, "It's come to our attention-", Cathy's heart skipped a beat, "-that one Draco Malfoy has severely insulted the Weasley family name." _My cousin_ , Cathy realized, though her mum rarely ever spoke of her father's relatives.

"And we can't just let him get away with it now, can we?", said Fred. Cathy saw Ron's eyes widen nervously.

"Don't worry", she jumped in, guessing what the twins were planning. "We'll make sure they'll never trace it back to us." Ron nodded appreciatively.

"Right, but he has to know who's behind it. Send him a message", said Fred with a frightening glimmer in his eyes.

"But without giving him proof to use against us?" Harry said, speaking up for the first time.

"Wait, what happened anyway?" asked Cathy.

"He said", Ron began, hesitantly, "He said: 'Red hair, hand-me-down clothes? You must be a Weasley'". Cathy felt a shot of anger rise inside her. They were right. The bully must be punished.

"I've got it!" exclaimed George, suddenly, and everyone replied with fervent shushing.

After another half hour of intensive plotting and planning, the group separated for the night. The twins had the two first years head back on their own, opting to accompany Cathy to the kitchen corridor, which, apparently, was close to the Hufflepuff basement. The truth was, even the Weasley twins didn't know where the Hufflepuff basement was. It was said that no one but Hufflepuffs had seen their common room for at least a thousand years. Upon reaching the still-life painting of a bowl of fruit that led to the kitchens, Cathy steeled herself to ask the question that had been plaguing her for months now.

"What-er, what do you-?", Cathy cursed herself as the twins looked on patiently. "When you mentioned me, um, at home, what did…did your parents say anything?"

"Well, they did warn us about being bad influences", replied Fred nonchalantly. George elbowed him, then looked back to Cathy, looking sorry for what he was about to say.

"They told us about your dad, Cathy", George said slowly. Suddenly, the air became too thick to breathe. If only they would both stop staring at her like that. They didn't look like they hated or feared her. They looked like they felt so very sorry. Cathy felt her eyes tearing up and, like always, cursed herself.

"Oh", she managed to say, hating how her voice squeaked. She took a deep breath and blinked quickly several times, effectively maintaining control. "Okay, well then…why did you even ask me to help with the prank?"

"Wait, what?" said Fred, running a hand through his already messy hair incredulously.

"What?" echoed Cathy. It was nearing one in the morning. Everyone was tired.

"Cathy, we're sorry about your dad, but none of that was your fault", said George pleadingly.

"Yeah, mum said your mum raised you on her own and had to prove her innocence and everything and all that time everyone was snubbing her and that she was very brave", Fred whispered agitatedly, rushing through his sentence in an effort to make Cathy understand his sentiments.

"But if you knew all that, why would you introduce me to Harry freaking Potter?!" Cathy exclaimed in a whisper, throwing her hands in the air, also trying to make them understand the breadth of her frustration over the issue. She'd been hoping she could avoid Harry until she left school, and it would've been so easy too.

"Because, Cathy!" Fred insisted, "He's _obviously_ already Ron's best mate one week in, and you're _our_ best mate, and it would be _nice_ if you two actually got along as well." Fred was clearly reaching his breaking point for the night, being an incurable sleepyhead.

"You mean it?" Cathy whispered.

"Of course we do. Who else do we trust the most with our shenanigans", said George, giving her shoulder an awkward pat. "Now, er, we'll leave you here. Someone needs to get to bed as soon as possible", George smiled sheepishly and shrugged in Fred's general direction.

"Alright, goodnight"

* * *

The next day, Cathy spent her spare time reading through transfigurations textbooks at the library. They'd all agreed she was the perfect person to cast the spell, because Malfoy would never suspect her. Finally, after finding the exact charm they needed, it was time.

They'd all agreed that the charm should be cast during breakfast. Depending on Cathy's skill, it should last all day, unless Malfoy were to get professional help. In any case, if she cast it during breakfast, everyone would have seen anyway.

" _Multic_ _olovaria"_ , Cathy whispered, subtly pointing her wand at Malfoy's head as she passed the Slytherin table to her seat among her roommates. It wasn't too hard. Malfoy wasn't too tall that she'd have to reveal her wand to point at him, and she'd hidden among the meandering students taking their seats.

As soon as the charm was cast, Malfoy's friends, everyone within viewing range of his hair really, started crying out and laughing in shock. His silvery blond hair had been slowly turning red, but by now it was flashing luminescent red and gold alternately. _How's that for Slytherin pride?_ , thought Cathy.

"What? What's happened?" asked Malfoy, genuinely confused. Cathy took her place at the Hufflepuff table, still watching the scene before her.

"Your…hair", the boy beside Malfoy said, pointing at his friend's head in horror. A Slytherin girl pulled out a compact from her robe pocket, giving Malfoy his first glimpse of the dazzlingly bright hair he'd spend the rest of the day trying to wash back to normal.

Malfoy stood up suddenly. His face was turning red, in shame or anger, it didn't matter. Across the room, Cathy saw the twins, Ron, and Harry join everyone in laughter, as a bushy-haired girl frowned disapprovingly beside them. In a fit of desperation, Malfoy ran off, pursued by the mocking and laughing. Cathy felt a pang of regret, then remembered why they'd done it in the first place.

"Did you have a hand in that?" Norah whispered into her ear. Cathy sobered suddenly.

"What?" she turned to Norah with an innocent smile.

"It's just…that day when I gave you the note from the Weasley twins, and just now, you glanced at them"

"They could've done it", Cathy said, shrugging, then spun back around to her empty plate, beginning to pile it high with food.

* * *

Later that year, Cathy would spend more time with the twins, eventually getting to know their brothers and their brother's friends, Harry and Hermione. And when she'd heard of the trio's brave deed that had sent Harry to the hospital wing, she too sent get-well-soon candy (admittedly from Fred and George, who'd been sneaking into Hogsmeade since they stole the Marauder's Map from Filch's office, first year). Not just that, it was also Harry who had (indirectly) helped Cathy decide to try-out for the Hufflepuff quidditch team the following year, not that the team had much of a winning streak to ruin. After all, if Harry had inherited his father's talent for the sport, perhaps she had too.


	3. Third Year

"Mum, hurry up, I see them!" Cathy walked as fast as she could through the sea of people crowding Flourish and Blott's, dragging Ivy along.

"Hold on, Cathy!" cried Ivy, finally getting her daughter to stop. From outside, they could see Gilderoy Lockheart (the reason behind the crowd) having his photo taken with Harry. Ivy scanned the crowd inside as Harry stepped away from the smoky flashbulbs and the soon-to-be professor's blinding smile, returning to the Weasleys. She counted all the Weasleys present, noting the youngest one, whom Cathy had mentioned. Her face contorted to a frown as she finally noticed the Malfoys. Suddenly, a fight erupted between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley. The crowd pushed and shoved, eager to either get out of the way or watch. It took a while for Ivy and Cathy to wade through into Flourish and Blotts. Thankfully, by then, the fight was over.

Cathy froze as the crowd pushed her and her mother right in front of the older Malfoy. But Lucius Malfoy's gaze drifted right over her head and latched onto her mother.

"Ivy", Lucius sneered in greeting. He turned away, then, locking eyes with Mr. Weasley. Then, addressing Draco, he announced that their business there was over, and left the bookstore.

"Mum, dad, this is Cathy Bennett", said Fred, breaking the silence.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you both", Cathy said, hesitantly.

"Oh, hello, dear, I've heard so much about you!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, obviously glad to avert everyone's attention from what had just happened.

"This is my mum", Cathy said, suddenly shy, gesturing to Ivy behind her.

"Hi, Molly Weasley, right? Nice to meet you", Ivy said, shaking hands with the Weasleys as Mr. Weasley snapped back to attention. As the adults started talking, Cathy turned to Harry.

"I heard about the break out", she said, clearly amused, "brilliant"

"It was mostly Ron, and Fred and George", said Harry, grinning.

Soon the mood had lightened as everyone resumed shopping for school things. The adults talked amicably. Ivy, in particular, was interested in Mr. Weasley's job at the Ministry, and she also told them about her job at the Daily Prophet. Mrs. Weasley, as it turned out, was a fan of Ivy's first novel, "Laurel Hills", and was pleased to discover that now that Cathy was at Hogwarts for most of the year, Ivy had started working on a new novel. Cathy had been introduced to Ginny, and was at that moment telling her what she could about how Fred and George planned pranks, though even Cathy, herself, was occasionally left perplexed. Mostly, Cathy was relieved that she and her mother had been received as friends.

* * *

Cathy sauntered over to the Gryffindor table at breakfast one weekend morning. As soon as they noticed her coming over, Fred and George immediately moved over to make some space between them. A few Gryffindors glanced over, wondering what a Hufflepuff was doing there, but the upperclassmen paid no attention. They were used to seeing her stopping by occasionally. Cathy sat there, smiling widely, until she sensed the sullen atmosphere.

"Good morning", she greeted everyone in general, though she noticed that the sullenness was emanating from Ginny, who sat on the other side of the table, and two seats away. She raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Fred and George went a little too far this time", she explained, simultaneously chastising and apologetic. Cathy frowned at Fred who was next to Hermione, and therefore the closest target for her disapproving stare-down.

"We were just teasing. Besides, we apologized", he said defensively. From down the table, Ginny got up wordlessly and left.

"She's probably off to write about us in her diary", said George. Cathy elbowed him.

"It's true. We've seen it", said Fred.

"Well, don't read it! A diary is supposed to be private, and filled with a person's personal thoughts. _Also_ , people shouldn't be made fun of for having one", countered Cathy.

"You have one, don't you?" teased Lee Jordan, who had previously been sitting across from Fred, but now sat across from Cathy. He and Cathy had become friends as well, since he'd also join in the twins' general mischief.

"Okay, I _was_ going to tell everyone the news…" Cathy said, knowing she'd just successfully changed the subject.

"What's that?" asked George.

"This afternoon, I'm trying out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team"

* * *

Cathy wondered why she'd even told them she was trying out. How would she tell them that she hadn't gotten in? That is, if she failed. She cursed her excitability again when she saw seven familiar figures in the stands. The seven were four of her roommates (Annabeth was already one of the Beaters), Lee Jordan, Fred, and George. Lucky for Cathy, there were only four people (including herself) trying out for Chaser. Then again, there was only one spot open.

Cathy tried to recall the mechanics of the tryouts, running them through her head so she could effectively ignore Annabeth practically crushing the people trying out for the open Beater position. Soon, it would be their turn. After all, the only positions that needed filling up were Beater and Chaser. The mechanics were as follows. First, Cathy and the other three hopefuls would be divided into two groups. Each group would be like a mini-Quidditch team, with one Beater and Keeper (chosen from the existing team members), but without a Seeker. Also, only one Bludger would be put to use. The two mini-teams would then play against each other, and based on a combination of how well each person performed and who won the game, the new Chaser and the reserve would be chosen.

Finally, it was time for the Chaser tryouts. Cathy mounted her broom and followed her teammates to the field. The current Seeker (Cedric Diggory, rumoured to be in the running for next year's team captain) and the reserve Keeper took up the positions of each team's Beaters. The positions of Keepers were taken up by Annabeth and one of the current Chasers. The players' performances were then reviewed by team captain and Keeper, Zoe Applebee, and the other current Chaser who wouldn't be playing. Since they wouldn't be using the Golden Snitch, the game would end when one of teams reached 100 points (each shot being worth 10 points).

Cathy's muscles tensed, anticipating the whistle. Zoe Applebee opened the chest containing the balls, and unlatched one of the Bludgers, allowing it to zoom into the air of its own accord. She picked up the Quaffle, and with a shrill burst of her whistle, threw it high into the air.

Immediately, Cathy flew at the Quaffle, noting in the back of her mind that she'd have to dodge the other players flying in the same direction, including her teammate and competition, Alexa Summerby. Suddenly, something flew, centimeters from her ear, knocking her off balance. It was the Bludger. Directly ahead, Annabeth was in position to bat it at the other team's general direction. Lucky for Cathy, her teammate caught the Quaffle as she regained balance. Cathy followed as the other two Chasers closed in on Alexa, attempting to pressure her into releasing the ball.

"Alexa!" Cathy shouted, hoping the older girl had heard through the whipping wind surrounding them as they flew. Apparently, she had, because Alexa surprised the other team by dropping the Quaffle…right into Cathy's waiting hands. Cathy was close enough now, to throw the Quaffle into one of the goal posts, but she knew she was too close to their Keeper to make the shot. The other Chasers were off Alexa's tail now, and right on hers. They fell for it. Instead of tossing the ball through the ring, she tossed it away, and to Alexa, who promptly shot it into the goal post to the far left; too far for the opposing team's Keeper, who had been waiting near the right goal post.

The game became more intense after that. The other two Chasers, as it turned out, had been competing with each other and in an effort to step up their game, started working together as well. As it turned out, Cathy had no problem tuning out the frantic cheering of her friends. Although, later on she'd discover that no one _but_ her friends had been cheering, and then she was embarrassed.

* * *

"Cathy", said Lisle, approaching Cathy who was, again, reading as she sat on a couch in the common room.

"Yeah?" Cathy felt a rush of concern at Lisle's countenance.

"The results came out…for the Quidditch team", Lisle never could hide how she was feeling.

"So, I didn't get in, then", Cathy felt like someone had taken a huge axe to her ego. She slouched onto the couch. "Well, I guess I'm really not that athletic. That's fine. Mum's not very athletic." Cathy mumbled mostly to herself.

"No! Cathy, you did get in, but you're just reserve Chaser", Lisle said, rushing, "You were amazing! I never knew you could play, but you were a whirlwind out there!"

"Wait. I'm reserve?" Cathy's eyes widened.

"I thought…it would be alright? Alexa Summerby is in her seventh year. This is the last Quidditch season she could ever tryout for", Lisle stared warily at Cathy's slack face, "I think it was a 'might as well, since it's my last year', kind of thing", she added in a mumble.

"No. No, that's…woah, I got in!" Cathy whooped and laughed, then apologized for startling the other students in the common room that night. "I never thought I would be so happy to be someone's second choice!"

"I'm so happy for you too!"Lisle said, joining in on Cathy's celebration.

* * *

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Cathy shouted, dragging Fred and George behind her, hands on one of each twin's wrist with a vice-like grip.

"I don't know, Fred. I'm feeling a bit too lazy to go out today", said George. _Obviously teasing_ , insisted Cathy's thoughts.

"Yeah, you know what George, maybe we should take advantage of the castle being relatively empty", agreed Fred.

"Absolutely not", said Cathy, dropping their wrists and spinning around to face them. "You both promised me the Hogsmeade Grand Tour, and if you're not delivering, I'm just going to have to leave you both and join Paige, Norah, and the others." Cathy crossed her arms and squared her shoulders, though she noticed there was much to make up for in terms of height.

"Well, we wouldn't be having this problem now, would we, if you'd let us sneak you in when we offered last year?" insisted George with a smirk.

"No, the anticipation is part of the fun. Now, let's go!" she said, running in the general direction of Hogsmeade, knowing they'd follow.

"I thought the anticipation was part of the fun?!" teased Fred. Sure enough, he and George were running after her.

* * *

Cathy's happiness was short-lived. Later that year, a message written in blood announced that the "Chamber of Secrets" had been opened. Something was petrifying Muggle-borns. Professor Lockhart (who by now everyone realized was a phony) started a dueling club, which Cathy and her friends opted to join, though more for the experience, than Lockhart's fumbling tutelage.

"I don't believe it, personally", Fred said, suddenly. The three of them (herself, Fred, and George) had been cleaning up in the empty potions classroom without magic after dinner. They were there to serve their time in detention for pulling a particularly vile prank on a Slytherin after he'd called Cathy's friend, Sam, a mudblood. Truth be told, Cathy had noticed how some of the Slytherins had become increasingly braver in their bullying since this so-called "Chamber of Secrets" had been opened. It scared her.

"Don't believed what?" Cathy asked absently as she gingerly arranged ingredients on some shelves.

"That Harry is the heir of Slytherin, of course", answered Fred.

"None of us believe it", said Geoge, who was scrubbing something pink and green from the bottom of one of the many cauldrons.

"Honestly, Fred. One would think you'd know that by now", Cathy mock tsk-ed as she threw a grin over her shoulder at Fred.

"Alright, then, I was only letting you all know how I felt about it, as a member of the student body", Fred said, letting the broom drop to the floor as he raised both hands in mock surrender, feigning hurt.

* * *

Things took a turn for the worse when Hermione was found petrified. As soon as they heard the news, they came to see her at the hospital wing. The sight of her still alive (apparently) wasn't reassuring compared to the wakefulness eerily frozen on her face.

"There's nothing we can do, is there?" Cathy said, defeated. Madame Pomfrey had just ushered them out of the hospital wing after visiting Hermione again. She'd hoped to see some improvement, though now Cathy realized how illogical that was. She felt two hands gently take hold of hers.

"Not much, but we can keep watch of her while she's in there-", said Fred, tossing his head in the direction of the hospital wing.

"-And we can watch out for the other Muggle-borns. Maybe they shouldn't wander about alone", added George. Cathy gave both their hands a squeeze, comforted by the fact that they were purebloods, and therefore unlikely to be petrified. She felt horrible and selfish thinking about it. Still, she made sure to accompany her Muggle-born friends whenever she could. She was especially glad most Muggle-borns were Hufflepuffs, because the Hufflepuff basement was probably one of the safest places for Muggle-borns in the entire castle.

* * *

Relief flooded Cathy, and most everyone else at Hogwarts. She didn't know how they did it, or really, how they'd done it again, but Harry, Ron, and even Hermione, had defeated the basilisk (because now they knew what had really been attacking). And best of all, Ginny was alive and well. Fred and George wouldn't let her out of their sight for a while after her return.

Coming home, the students found platform nine and three-quarters crowded with concerned families. Even outside the magical barrier, students were swarmed by their parents, younger siblings, and in some cases, even grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there too, and though Mrs. Weasley gave everyone an asphyxiating hug as she saw them, she held on tight to Ginny the most. Cathy, herself, was greeted by Ivy, of course, and Ivy pulled her daughter into a tight embrace, worry, and then relief, etched on her face. Pulling away for a while, Cathy sought out Harry who stood alone, having gotten his hug from Mrs. Weasley. Cathy gave him a short, awkward hug. Before she and Ivy left the station, she made sure to thank him, after all, it wasn't just Ginny's and the petrified Muggle-borns's lives he'd saved; it was every single Muggle-born student's life, and that deserved a genuine "thank you".


	4. Fourth Year

It was a pleasant summer afternoon, and sunlight was filtering through Cathy's window as she read, sitting between his folded legs. They were on the floor of her bedroom, and he was leaning against the foot of her bed. She leaned back and he rested his chin on her head. She looked up and saw George's face grinning back sleepily. Cathy couldn't remember when she first figured out how to differentiate the two. She wasn't even sure how she did it. They were identical, and yet she noticed the tiniest differences. Fred was more angular. George was softer, both in looks and personality.

"Cathy", said George. He got up and walked toward her bedroom door, "I'm sorry, it's just…I don't know how to be with you."

"What?" asked Cathy in shock.

"I don't want to be involved with you", his sorry expression turned into a nasty smirk. "Look at you. You're life's a mess. You're the daughter of a psychotic murderer! How do I know you don't have it in you to go crazy and murder people too?"

"No, I…thought", Cathy's voice hitched.

"Thought what?" Fred said, suddenly appearing from behind George. "Well, Cathy, _we_ thought this whole Sirius Black business was over. That's the only reason we let you follow us around."

"You said-!" yelled Cathy. Suddenly, she was standing up. Her distraught face melted into a look of fear. Right before her eyes, the twins were fusing together and turning into a large black dog. It opened its massive jaws to swallow her up.

"No!"

Cathy bolted upright. She was okay. She was safe. She was in her bedroom, yes. It was summer break, also correct. But there was no sunlight filtering through her curtains, and when she checked her alarm clock, it was still 2:47 in the morning. She felt something wet on her cheeks. She'd been crying in her sleep. She vigorously wiped the tear tracks away, and braced herself to try to recall the dream. All it left was a messy tangle of emotions.

* * *

Ivy was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. She hardly ever slept these days, not since she'd heard of Sirius's escape from Azkaban. She'd left her job at the Daily Prophet, saying she wanted some time to work on her new novel. She doubted anyone bought that. The truth is it was near impossible to focus with his face (angry, deranged) plastered over every new edition of the paper.

"Mum?" Ivy turned slowly to face her daughter. Though Cathy had only grown just a little bit taller, Ivy could see that her baby was gone. Cathy watched her with wary, nearly grown-up eyes, eyes that understood what was happening.

"Couldn't sleep?" Ivy asked, setting the glass onto the kitchen counter. She walked over to Cathy and held her in a comforting hug, just as much for herself as for her daughter.

"Mum, I need to ask you something", Cathy said, cautiously.

"About…your father", Ivy said. Her tone suggested it wasn't a question.

"Sit down for a second, alright", Cathy said, gently tugging Ivy onto a chair by the dinner table. Cathy sat across from her. "Can…can you tell me what happened, again? Please?" Cathy asked, pleadingly. The darkness outside made them talk in hushed tones.

"Your father and our friends", Ivy started hesitantly, "Were betrayed by one of their closest friends. He told…You-Know-Who where James and Lily were hiding, and then framed Sirius for it." Ivy paused and took a deep breath. "Sirius went after him, and…and all they found of Peter Pettigrew was his finger. They took him to Azkaban for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles."

"I'm sorry", said Cathy, reaching for her mother's hand. "But mum, I have to ask…please don't get mad." Cathy's eyes started watering at the thought of the question she wanted to ask. "How are you so sure he didn't do it? How are you so sure he wasn't in league with You-Know-Who, like they all say?"

"Catherine!" Ivy hissed, pulling her hand back. Her face twisted into a bewildered scowl.

"Mum, I'm just saying", Cathy was sobbing now, "There's no way to know"

"Yes, there is. Cathy, do you trust me?" Ivy held her daughter's hands from across the table, forcing Cathy to look at her.

"Yes", Cathy replied, sniffling.

"Well, I know for a fact that your father never would've betrayed James and Lily. And I know that he never would've hurt anyone who didn't deserve it"

* * *

Cathy never got to see any of her friends before she had to return to school. She'd heard from the twins' last letter that Harry was at the Leaky Cauldron, but she didn't bother sending a reply. On the Hogwarts Express, she sat with her roommates. And when the dementors stopped the train to search for Sirius Black, they held her hands and promised her they'd have her back.

She barely paid attention to Professor Dumbledore's announcements at the beginning of the year. She did clap along to congratulate Hagrid. She also noticed that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was Remus Lupin, the man who'd visited her home when she was younger. She remembered him as one of her mother and father's old friends. When Dumbledore mentioned the dementors being there to look for Sirius Black, she flinched. Immediately, she could feel the other students' eyes on her. The back of her neck prickled, and her stomach dropped at the idea of enduring this for the rest of the school year. Suddenly, she couldn't wait to return home.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a bit strange for Cathy. Occasionally, she'd catch Professor Lupin looking at her in surprise, as though he hadn't expected her to be there. She wondered if it was her hair (longer now) or her eyes that she'd inherited from her father, or her facial structure that made her look like her mother.

"Ms. Bennett", he called after class one day when Cathy happened to be the last one leaving the classroom. She turned to him, smiling politely, though she just wanted to return to the bedroom she shared with her roommates, where she'd been spending most of her free time. "It's nice to have finally met you." Professor Lupin finished, returning to the office connected to the classroom.

* * *

"Are you avoiding us again?" asked George. He and Fred had found her roaming the halls of the now-empty castle. It was the first Hogsmeade weekend that year, and she'd decided the common room was starting to look repetitive.

"Not you two, specifically", Cathy half-lied, though she really had been avoiding unnecessary interactions with her other schoolmates, she'd also been inadvertently avoiding them. But it didn't surprise her that they'd found her. She knew about the map, after all.

"Look, if you're worried that we're afraid of you now, or something, obviously you don't know us as well as you think", asserted Fred, and Cathy blushed as she recalled her dream. She glanced at George from the corner of her eye, though to her surprise, she found it hard to maintain eye contact.

"So, we're alright?" Cathy asked.

"Absolutely, just as soon as you help us find a way to pour this thing", Fred gestured to a bucket of orange sludge, "all over Filch as soon as everyone gets back."

"You're just bored, aren't you?" Cathy teased, already knowing the answer. "What'll it do to him?"

"We're not sure yet", admitted George, "We've mostly been trying out new stuff on him."

* * *

Though she returned to helping Fred, George, and occasionally Lee Jordan, with their pranks, she insisted on remaining behind the scenes. She had enough attention on her already. She didn't need more people narrowing their eyes at her as she passed, or giving her a wide berth when she passed, out of fear.

"Did you hear about the Fat Lady?" Cathy heard someone whisper. Masochistically, she turned to follow the voice and saw a third year Ravenclaw boy glance her way, and then continue, "Black is in the castle!"

Cathy started. She'd been hoping the rumours were false. She'd been hoping he wasn't there after all. Although, if Cathy admitted it to herself, she didn't really know what she'd been hoping for. On one hand, if her father was truly innocent, she might get to see him for the first time in her memory. On the other hand, if her mother was wrong about him…

Cathy didn't want to think about it. She got up and left the library. Outside, she found her friends, Paige and Sam, walking fast in her direction.

"We heard", said Paige as soon as she reached Cathy.

"Are you alright, Cathy?" asked Sam.

"I'll be fine", Cathy replied, skirting a direct answer. No, she was not alright, but she would be fine as soon as she knew the truth about her father.

* * *

While Cathy had spent her free time holed up in bed, in the library, or in the common room, she'd also thrown herself into her studies and Quidditch practice. Alexa Summerby had graduated Hogwarts the year before, passing the Chaser position she occupied down to Cathy, who'd been reserve last year. Cathy was thankful for this. Usually, she was either cooped up indoors, or out of doors and being watched warily. As rumours of Black's presence intensified, so did the shunning and the backstabbing, and Cathy's friends could only protect her so much. But up in the air, Cathy was literally above all that, and when she was throwing that Quaffle around, practicing maneuvers with her teammates, she felt like she wasn't the ostracized leper anymore. She was part of a team.

Soon, they found themselves pitted against Gryffindor during a particularly stormy day. It wasn't Cathy's first match, though that was her first season, but neither she nor any of her teammates had ever played during a storm before. Lucky for them, neither had the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Cathy was nervous, sure, but she was more worried that if she hurt Harry somehow, people would only hate her more. Even though it was only a Quidditch match, it would only increase their suspicion.

The match was going well, weather conditions considered. It didn't surprise Cathy that the twins practiced competitive professionalism on the pitch. She knew how much Quidditch mattered to them, too. Just as she was tossing the Quaffle through a hoop, she saw a flash of yellow falling quickly from the corner of her eye. It was Cedric Diggory, their Seeker and captain. He'd been struck by lightning. Quickly, Annabeth tossed her Beater's bat and swooped under Cedric, catching him. Instead of applause, Cathy heard shrill screams. Up ahead, Harry Potter was falling to his death.

" _Arresto Momentum!"_

* * *

Professor Dumbledore had saved Harry. His spell caught him mid-air. The match ended then, as Harry and Cedric were rushed to the hospital wing. Cathy sat with her teammates by Cedric's bed, though she eyed the Gryffindor Quidditch team a few beds over, across the room.

"It's alright", muttered Cedric, noticing, "Why don't you go check on Potter?" he tried to smile in encouragement.

"Are you sure?", Cathy asked. Cedric tried to nod.

"Okay. I'll be back", insisted Cathy.

She crossed the room to where Harry was and noticed that he was just coming to. As Cathy approached, she saw Ron show him what was left of his Nimbus 2000. Fred and George, who were behind Ron saw her first and made room for her. The other Gryffindors backed off, presumably for other reasons.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" asked Cathy timidly. She hadn't spoken to Harry all year, worried that someone had finally told him about her father and what he'd done.

"I'm fine, thanks", replied Harry, and Cathy was relieved to see him smile. "How's your Seeker?" Harry winced, remembering seeing Cedric get electrocuted.

* * *

The year passed in much the same manner, until after the second Hogsmeade weekend. Though Cathy hadn't been particularly socializing, she'd always greet her Gryffindor friends, but lately, Harry had been treating her oddly. It wasn't that he was ignoring her, and he wasn't even hostile. Cathy suspected he finally knew, and was just being too good of a person to tell her to back off.

"Do you know what's wrong with Hagrid?" Cathy asked Fred and George as she approached them after breakfast one weekend morning. She'd spent the previous Hogsmeade weekend staying at Hogwarts again, and she'd tried to pay a visit to Hagrid, but he'd seemed too upset to talk to her. She'd also noticed that he wasn't his usual happy and boisterous self during Care of Magical Creatures, despite how passionate he felt about each and every creature he showed them.

"Malfoy's going to get Buckbeak executed", grumbled George.

"What?!" Cathy exclaimed. She'd heard about how the hippogriff had attacked Malfoy, but learned from Hermione that it'd all been Malfoy's fault.

"It's happening later this afternoon", said Fred.

"Unbelievable. That little git. And no one's doing anything about it?"

"They tried", said George, and the subject was dropped.

"A-and Harry?" Cathy asked, trying to ask casually. "Has someone told him anything about…me?"

"I think so", admitted George, looking sorry for being the bearer of bad news.

* * *

Cathy heard the news from Norah first. Sirius Black wasn't at Hogwarts, at least not anymore, but he was still at large. He was a fugitive, on the run. Cathy assumed that'd be the end of it. He hadn't approached her. The whole year he was nothing more than a name that had haunted her, and beyond that, she knew nothing more of him but the mad face she saw on all the wanted posters. It seemed that people finally realized she wasn't about to go mad and murder people as well, and their harsh treatment dwindled down.

"Cathy, I need to talk to you", Cathy spun around to face Harry. Her heart missed a beat.

"Harry…I'm sorry", Cathy began.

"For what?" Harry stopped for a second, confusion on his face.

"I'm sorry for not telling you who my father was", Cathy said.

"It's okay. I understand. But Cathy, I need to tell you something important", insisted Harry.

"What?" Cathy asked, confused that Harry had brushed of her apology.

"Maybe-maybe you better sit down", Harry said, gesturing to one of the benches lining the corridor. Cathy complied. "Cathy I saw him. I met your father, and Cathy-", Harry paused, checking the shock frozen on Cathy's face. "He's innocent. It was Peter Pettigrew. _He_ betrayed my parents, and then framed Sirius and faked his own death." Cathy's breath hitched, and she covered her face with her hands.

"We tried to catch Pettigrew, but he got away. He turned into a rat. He's an animagus-"

"Just like Sirius Black", finished Cathy. "My mum told me", she mumbled.

"Sirius got away too, with Buckbeak. He told me to give you this", Harry handed her a dirty scrap of parchment folded several times.

"Thanks, Harry", Cathy took the parchment. Her movements were mechanical, as though she herself were miles away, reeling with disbelief.

* * *

Cathy read the letter over and over again, tears streaming down her face. She'd been hiding in the astronomy tower. In the letter, Sirius spent a lot of time apologizing, though she knew now that none of it was his fault. He said he hadn't wanted her (or her mother) to see him as he was. He'd been living in a cave near Hogsmeade. She told him that he'd seen her Quidditch matches, and that she was quite good. He told her that he understood if she was wary of him, and that he could never make up for the years he was gone. He'd also mentioned that he and Ivy had fought to get custody of Harry after James and Lily's deaths, but that Dumbledore had insisted he was safer with the Dursleys. Cathy wondered what it would've been like to grow up with a younger brother. Most of all, Sirius was sorry that he'd missed out on seeing her grow up.

"Cathy", it was George. Once again, he and Fred had found her. She furiously wiped her eyes and cheeks, and then covered her face, careful to tuck the folded parchment into her pocket first.

"Don't look at me, I'm ugly crying", she said, giving a watery chuckle.

"Ron told us everything. He's at the hospital wing right now", said Fred, pulling her up from her seated position.

"What happened? Is he okay?"

"Your dad bit him in the leg", said George, laughing. "What? Too soon?" he asked when he noticed no one else was laughing along.

"Just a bit, but it's mostly okay now. I'll be fine", said Cathy, hugging them both at once.

"That's good to hear", said George, patting her on the head.

* * *

Cathy couldn't wait to tell her mother what had happened, but as soon as she returned home, she found that Sirius was faster. Since his escape to some unknown country outside of the Ministry's jurisdiction, he'd been writing Ivy frequent letters, sent through strange colorful birds. Upon Cathy's return home, Grumpus wasn't too happy, but Cathy was delighted. She noticed a lightness in her mother that came with each new letter, and she'd write back to him, acting like a giddy school girl. It was a strange transformation, but Cathy hoped things would get better from then on.


	5. Fifth Year

Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations. She'd have to take her OWLs this year, which was why Cathy was particularly glad to be watching the Quidditch World Cup Final with the Weasleys that summer. After four years, she finally felt it was okay to spend the summer with her friends. Sure, her mother was still home alone, but things were better. She was communicating regularly with Sirius, and she could finally go back to her job. Unfortunately, since Ivy hadn't really spent the last year working on her new novel, that was still in the works too. No matter, if they were to run short on cash, there was Sirius's Uncle Alphard's money, which Ivy insisted they should only use for emergency reasons. They'd never needed it before, and Cathy doubted they'd need it yet. For now, she was more than happy to share a room with Ginny and Hermione at the Burrow. And, despite their previous experience, Cathy was unsurprised to find that Fred and George were no help with telling her what to expect with her OWLs. Although she was mildly surprised to discover that George achieved an OWL in Herbology and intended on taking the class again for his sixth year. However, Fred hadn't, but he'd also achieved an OWL in Transfiguration, which George hadn't, and intended to continue taking it for his sixth year. Plus, she was glad to find that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes would start selling that year. At the Burrow, Cathy also got to meet Bill and Charlie, though she spent more time asking Charlie about his work with dragons.

Still, life wasn't quite perfect yet. Living in close proximity to George made having occasional dreams about him infinitely more awkward. For some reason beyond her, it turned out Cathy was quite good at pretending she only saw him as a friend, which proved convenient. Cathy's back-up plan, were he to discover her growing feelings, was to run, as fast and as far as she could, and never look back.

On a more melodramatic note, Cathy had also written a few letters to her father. She'd told him how happy she was for him, that he was free. She'd also written that she hoped he could visit some day. As consolation (and upon learning of her love of animals) he'd sent her a green and blue lizard. Apparently, a native creature of whatever region he was staying in. She recognized this as the generous gift it was. He'd risked tipping off his location just to get her a wonderful birthday gift. She'd named it Digby and intended to sneak him into Hogwarts since she already had Grumpus. However, she'd had to apologize in one of her first letters to Sirius. She'd never considered it before, but as soon as he'd made his presence known in her life, she realized that she couldn't call him "dad", or anything similar, just like that. She asked if she could call him "Sirius" instead. He agreed. He wrote saying he hoped they would get to know each other better.

* * *

The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Cathy made their way to a seemingly empty field the day of the Quidditch World Cup Final. Along the way to Stoatshead hill where the Portkey was, they ran into Amos Diggory and his son, Cedric.

"Hi, Cathy", greeted Cedric as the group made their way to the top of the hill where the Portkey would be.

"Hello, Cedric. Feeling better?" asked Cathy, gesturing on her head where Cedric had been struck by lightning during their last game of Quidditch.

"Yes hello, Cedric", said George, resting his elbow on Cathy's head teasingly, only removing it when it got difficult to walk.

"I'm fine, now. Thanks", said Cedric, grinning good-naturedly, and then walking ahead.

" _Oh hello, Cedric_ ", Fred teased.

"Shut up. He's practically my boss, _and_ he's got a girlfriend", Cathy replied, rolling her eyes. She neglected to add that she may have been interested in someone else, anyway.

"Yeah, Fred, besides, we can't ruin Lee's chances, now, can we?" George told Fred, pretending to argue. Cathy felt as though she'd been stabbed in the chest.

"What did you say, George?" she asked.

"What, like it wasn't that obvious last year?" Fred replied instead.

"I'm not exactly that smart, now what was it?" Cathy asked in a rush, rolling her eyes again.

"Lee Jordan fancies you. That straight-forward enough?" said Fred, enunciating the first sentence carefully. "It was never a secret exactly."

"I don't think I do subtlety in that area. Also, last year was pretty big for me, if you'll recall", Cathy brushed it off. Lee Jordan had become one of her close friends, but she'd never fancied him. Besides, her thoughts were focused more on h _ow the bloody hell George Weasley could comment on something like that and then think he could just shut up about it._ This "fancying one of your best friends" business was infuriating.

* * *

They'd been celebrating Ireland's win in the magically expanded tent when it happened. Cathy was laughing along as Harry told them, for what seemed like the hundredth time, about how Dudley Dursley had eaten Fred's Ton-Tongue Toffee. Suddenly, loud explosions and shouts shocked the group into silence. Noise like this wouldn't have been a surprise considering people all over were either celebrating a win or drowning their sorrows, except that the shouting wasn't of joy, but fear.

Immediately, Mr. Weasley told them to get out of the tent. As soon as they were out, Mr. Weasley told those who weren't of age yet to run to safety into the forest, and he and his older sons tried to help the other ministry people. Cathy quickly grabbed Ginny by the wrist, though to be fair, at thirteen, Ginny was nearly her height and fully capable of running faster. It was only when they'd reached the edge of the forest when they realized they'd lost Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"We have to go look for them!" exclaimed Ginny. She tried to run back to the campsite, but George pulled her back.

"No, it's too dangerous! Besides, I'm sure they're just somewhere in another part of the forest", Cathy said, trying to sound reassuring, though she knew her reasoning was feeble. Even so, her head whipped around every which way searching for any of the three.

"What do we do?" asked Ginny, still facing the campsite.

"We wait", replied George.

A while later when things seemed to have calmed down, Fred, George, Ginny, and Cathy returned to their campsite to find Bill, Charlie, and Percy waiting in the boys' tent. Later, Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally returned bearing with them news of the Dark Mark. They discussed it for a while, but it was obvious Mr. Weasley (who knew the most) was reluctant to talk. The rest of break was spent preparing for school and trying to figure out what exactly had happened.

* * *

"You're blushing", Cathy said.

"Shush, they can hear!" Paige whispered back.

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students and school heads had just arrived and already students all over were swooning. That's what happens when you present a half-veela and a Quidditch legend to a room-full of mere mortals. Incidentally, said Quidditch legend's team mascot was a Veela.

"Oh, like they couldn't see your adorable ruddy cheeks anyway", Cathy retorted, causing Paige to blush harder.

"Cathy", George said, sliding in between Cathy and Paige. This time, Cathy was the one blushing.

"Yes", Cathy said in the same blunt tone George had said her name. She did this sometimes. If she didn't know how to react, then she tended to copy whoever she was talking to.

"Any ideas how to beat that Age Line?" George asked, as though it were everyday he would come over and ask Cathy for advice on trumping Dumbledore's magic. Although, to be honest, whenever they needed research, Cathy was frequently the person to go to. That said, Fred and George still enjoyed randomly trying out their experiments on unsuspecting victims.

"Aging Potion? I seriously doubt it would work, though", Cathy said, shrugging.

"Brilliant", said George, flashing a smile.

" _No_ ", Cathy made sure to enunciate for emphasis, " _Bad_ idea, George."

"Thank you", George said emphatically. He pointedly chose to ignore her warning.

* * *

As Cathy approached the Gryffindor table days later to ask about the Aging Potion plan (if she couldn't stop them, she might as well make sure they didn't mess up too bad), she heard Hermione talking about her S.P.E.W. campaign. George leaned over to Hermione to tell her that he and Fred had seen the house elves in the kitchens, and they'd been happy. Personally, Cathy was of mixed opinions on the issue. On one hand, Hermione had a point, especially since Cathy knew of Kreacher, who she and Ivy had also inherited since Sirius's arrest. Kreacher, evidently was unhappy with his indentured servitude to them, but Ivy and Cathy never went to 12 Grimmauld Place, and they'd long left Kreacher to himself there. On the other hand, she'd seen the house elves at the kitchens, and they really were happy there. Perhaps the issue at hand, then, was mistreatment, and not that they were being enslaved? Cathy dropped the argument she was having in her head as she moved to sit between George and Ron, who was sitting across from Harry.

"So, you've decided to help us, then?" George whispered.

"That obvious, huh?" Cathy tried to ignore the flush that had risen to her cheeks.

"Like an open book", replied George, straightening back up. Meanwhile, across the table Harry had been reading a letter silently to Ron and Hermione. The three of them looked up at Cathy, then to each other. While no one was looking, Harry passed the letter to Ron, who then secretly passed it to Cathy.

_Nice try, Harry_

_I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar._

_Sirius_

Cathy stopped herself from visibly reacting to the first sentence, but she was definitely surprised and more than a little afraid for Sirius. He was back. She surreptitiously returned the letter to Ron, then said goodbye to the twins and left the table. On her way back to Hufflepuff table, Cathy couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy. It wasn't because Sirius had returned for Harry, but not Cathy or Ivy. Cathy understood that there was something going on with Harry's scar, and by extent He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But by that letter, it sounded like Harry and Sirius were more familiar with each other than she and Sirius were. Cathy knew it was stupid. Of course things would be awkward between them. He was her estranged father, and the last time he'd seen her she was two years old. And then there was Harry who was the spitting image of his late best friend, save his eyes, which he'd inherited from his mother. But still, she wished they could write as easily to each other too.

* * *

Days later, seventh years and the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang equivalents would be filling the Goblet of Fire with their names. Students had taken to sitting at the steps by the Goblet to cheer on those brave enough to throw their names in.

"This is it!" exclaimed a voice Cathy recognized as Fred's. She and her friends had taken to sitting at the steps as well, mostly to ogle the beautiful people. The twins were greeted by cheers. By now, people had realized their plan. Cathy was mostly curious as well, considering the potion was a product of her own research.

"It's not going to work", Hermione said in a sing-song voice from another area of the room.

"Oh yeah? Why's that, Granger?" asked Fred. To be honest, Cathy agreed with Hermione. She may have helped make the potion, but that only made her better informed of its limits. Still, there was no reasoning with the twins once they'd put their mind to something. After Hermione agrued briefly and futilely with the twins, they decided it was time to give the potion a shot.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George"

"Bottoms up!" George said as he and Fred linked arms and drank from their vials.

Everyone waited with bated breath. After a while, the twins (though not visibly aged) hopped over the Age Line. Another tense silence. Nothing happened. Everyone applauded, including Cathy. Suddenly, there was a fizzing sound emanating from where the twins stood. With a loud pop, they were tossed out of the circle, as though kicked. Cathy covered her mouth with both hands, mostly to stifle her laughter. Right in front of her, Fred and George were growing identical long silver beards. Immediately, everyone started laughing, and Cathy allowed herself to laugh out loud too. Eventually, the twins joined in, upon seeing each other, and started bowing like they'd planned the whole thing. They took one long deep bow in front of Cathy particularly, and once again, she rolled her eyes at them. _I told you so_.

* * *

"Harry Potter!" Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out in the Great Hall as though it were empty, but it was filled with students, all dumbfounded at hearing that Harry Potter had been chosen as the fourth competitor for the Triwizard Tournament.

"What?" Cathy heard Sam whisper behind her.

"He wouldn't", Cathy said, half to defend Harry, half to convince herself she was right.

Back at the Hufflepuff common room, opinions were divided. Some people pitied Harry for being singled out like that in front of everyone, others thought he deserved it since obviously he'd gotten his name the Goblet of Fire somehow. Others were mad at Harry, claiming that he was trying to steal Cedric's rightful position as Hogwarts's champion.

"Does he really think he'd last one second out there?" spat out a particularly vindictive seventh year.

"Are you serious?!" exploded Cathy. She couldn't take it anymore. She'd wanted to return to her bedroom and sleep early to avoid this mess, but she felt it was her duty to defend her friend. Besides, since when were these Hufflepuffs suddenly so judgmental and petty? "Of course Harry doesn't think that. He _wouldn't_ try to join. He knows better."

"Sorry", said the seventh year sarcastically, "I forgot you were all chummy with those Gryffindors. Don't you spend more time with those Weasley twins than your own Housemates? Didn't _they_ try to get their names into the Goblet? Do you fancy yourself a Gryffindor, then? Hufflepuff not good enough?"

"You know what, you're being childish. Being a Hufflepuff is about being loyal, true, and hardworking. I'm just defending my friend. You're judging someone before they've even had the chance to explain themselves." Cathy was seething now.

"Why don't you just run to your little Gryffindor friends, you traitor", the seventh year was running out of retorts.

"Alright, stop", Norah interjected. She'd been watching the fight, waiting for a moment to step in and rescue her friend, and this seemed a good time, before the discussion got juvenile. "Cathy, let's go, the others are in bed already." Cathy allowed Norah to lead her to their dormitory.

* * *

"Is that from Charlie?" asked George, noticing the handwriting on the letter Cathy had been reading.

"What?" she looked up from the letter, seemingly innocent. Charlie had written about bringing dragons into Hogwarts for the first task. She wasn't supposed to know, or tell anyone for that matter.

"So, you two really got along over break, yeah?" he sat beside her, but surprisingly, didn't try to sneak glances at the letter.

"Oh yeah, he's just telling me about his work in Romania, something about a particularly dangerous Hungarian Horntail, a nesting mother", Cathy explained, "Where's Fred?"

"Attempting to woo Alicia Spinnet", George grinned conspiratorially. As far as they knew, Fred didn't stand a chance. "So, do you fancy him?" George teased.

"Just because I'm friends with someone doesn't mean I fancy them, George", Cathy retorted, smiling along.

"Alright", George said, holding his hands up in surrender.

* * *

Harry, thankfully, succeeded at the first task. During which Fred and George realized what Charlie's letter had really been about. Cathy didn't know if she'd imagined it or if it was the cold, but she thought George had flushed with jealousy when she regaled them with the tale of her late night trip into the Forbidden Forest, all on her own at first, to see the dragons with Charlie. Then again, he could've been jealous of her getting a closer look at the amazing beasts, Cathy concluded.

And then the Yule Ball was announced, and Cathy's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Either no one was going to ask her, or she'd have to go with someone she didn't like. She just knew it. Sure enough, the first person to approach her had been Ernie Macmillan, a fourth year Hufflepuff. She declined, waiting (in vain, argued her inner monologue) for George Weasley to ask her.

"Fit French boy watching you", Annabeth mumbled quickly, eyes frozen on her issue of Witch Weekly. She and Cathy were sitting by the Black Lake contemplating how to do their hair for the ball.

"Wha-?" Cathy asked, half a brownie filched from the kitchens stuffed in her mouth.

"There is an attractive Beauxbatons boy admiring you from afar this very instant", Annabeth whispered harshly. Cathy took her time chewing and swallowing.

"Are you sure he wasn't staring in horror at my unabashed horrendous eating habits?" asked Cathy jokingly.

"Nope, still staring", Annabeth said in a strange high pitched lilting tone. She was avoiding looking at whoever was staring at Cathy.

"Seriously?"

"Absolutely"

"Attractive?"

"What did I just say?"

"Like Oliver Wood attractive?" Cathy had harbored a crush on the ex-Gryffindor Quidditch team captain for the longest time. It was no secret to her roommates, but a massive one to her Gryffindor friends.

"Like 10 times that", insisted Annabeth.

"Okay. Okay. I'm calm", Cathy insisted. She thought for a while about what she was going to do about this. She was uncomfortable being stared at, especially when she realized she didn't know how long he'd been staring at her.

* * *

Eventually, a while passed and no one else had asked Cathy. She was beginning to think she was back in fourth year, except this time, she was only repelling boys. Maybe she'd offended the Hufflepuff boys by defending Harry? If that were the case, then Cathy decided she didn't even want to go with boys who'd think that anyway. Besides, Cedric himself hadn't expressed any hostility at all towards Harry, and in fact, treated him as a friend. Cathy decided it was time to take matters into her owns hands.

"Hello, I'm Cathy Bennett", said Cathy, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"'Ello", he said with a thick French accent, "I am Jehan Piaf. Eets a pleasure to meet you." Jehan Piaf took her hand and kissed it. Cathy swooned, completely new to this. Jehan, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Cathy kept herself calm and contained on the outside.

"I just wanted to ask", she started, pulling her hand back, "if you'd like to accompany me to the Yule Ball?" Cathy smiled as enticingly as she knew how.

"You are asking me?" he said, incredulous, but obviously pleased.

"Is something wrong?" she smiled innocently.

"Not at all, I would love to", he replied.

"Excellent. See you then"

* * *

Cathy descended the steps of the Great Hall where the Yule Ball was being held. She was attempting to hide among her roommates in a flurry of tulle, silk, and satin. She herself was dressed in a strapless dress. The material at the torso was dark colored, while the tulle skirt was light blue. Her dark curly hair had grown longer and was now pulled back with braids and pinned to the back with little powder blue and white flower buds, while the rest of her hair was loose.

"I like your bowtie", said Cathy, as she reached her date waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you", he smiled at her oddly, "I like your dress. Eet fits you well"

"Thanks, shall we?" Cathy said, gesturing to the crowd. She took the arm he offered and allowed him to guide her to the crowd.

Cathy was immediately separated from her friends. She stood with her date, watching the champions and their dates dance. She wasn't surprised to find Hermione with Krum as she'd told her before. After a while, as other students joined in, so did Cathy and her date. And as the party wore on, Cathy finally got to dance with her friends occasionally. She found Fred dancing with Alicia Spinnet and laughed, which her date didn't understand. Eventually, she started getting uncomfortable with her date. His hands were always all over her, and he rarely let her out of his sight. Finally, Cathy had to escape, saying she didn't want to dance anymore and he should just find a new partner. Harry's date gladly took her place.

"Hey", said George, surprising her as she chose a seat on the steps.

"Hey", she replied, relieved to see him, "Having fun?" she hadn't seen him all night and she blushed. There was something about boys in formal wear.

"Yeah, s'all right", said George, grinning sheepishly. "you?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"You don't sound so sure", he said, smirking, though he settled in next to her, a step lower, not in a hurry to leave.

"My date's a bit handsy?"

"What?"

"A lot of...inappropriate touching", Cathy winced.

"Alright, which one?" asked George, gesturing to the crowd, making Cathy laugh.

"No, it's fine. I got away," said Cathy.

"Good. Was he the one you asked out?"

"Yeah, the Beauxbatons boy," Cathy admitted, looking sullen.

"Well, was he a better date than that Ernie Macmillan would've been anyway?"

"I doubt it. That's him, isn't it?" Cathy gestured to a dark-haired boy dancing with a fourth year Ravenclaw. "He's being a good date. Good for you, Ernie Macmillan. You keep up the good work," said Cathy, with a sarcastic grin, lamely punching her fist into the air.

"At least you had the guts to ask someone out yourself", said George, knocking her shoulder with his.

"You only need guts for that if you actually fancy the one you want to ask out", Cathy replied.

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't have the guts to ask out the girl I fancy," George admitted, "Some Gryffindor I am, right?"

"But...Angelina?"

"We're friends. Besides, she only said yes because she still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend and wanted to make him jealous," said George, still trying to maintain a positive air.

"So," Cathy started cheerfully, "Who do you _really_ fancy?" Cathy pretended she was asking as a friend, gearing to tease him about it. She was getting quite good at this lying stuff, and supposed it was because she got in trouble with the twins a lot. She never used to be good at it, especially when she had to make eye contact.

"It doesn't matter. She likes someone else," George said, he tried to brush it off, grin ever present.

"Well, who does she like?" Cathy asked, tucking the skirt of her dress under her legs so she could pull her knees up and lean on them.

" _Loads_ of boys," said George, laughing.

"And none of them you? Ouch," Cathy winced, sympathizing. "Well, I fancy someone who likes loads of other girls too. Must be why we're best friends," Cathy's heart started pounding at how close she was to admitting her secret. She leaned her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head on top of hers.

"At least you don't have a twin"

"What?"

"No, it's just...what if a girl says she fancies you, but really, she'd be fine either way if it were your brother instead of you, like we're interchangeable, since we're practically the same person," George had never admitted this to anyone before. The smile was gone from his face. Cathy straightened and looked him in the eye.

"First of all, you and Fred are _not_ the same person," Cathy insisted, smiling as though the very thought were absurd, and to her it was. "Second, when you really _really_ want to be with someone, it should be because you like how they are, which makes you like spending time with them, not _just_ because you like how they look." George watched her silently for a while, looking thoughtful.

"Yeah, that would be nice," he said, his easy smile returning. Cathy's concerned look melted into a smile, and eventually she doubled over in a fit of giggles, joined by George.

The two of them collapsed across the steps of the staircase, breathing hard from so much laughter. Cathy hiccoughed, and then she knew. "You two did it, didn't you?" She asked, incredulous.

"Did what?" George asked innocently.

"Spiked the punch, how trite George", she was still smiling. She paused to hold her breath and get rid of the hiccups.

"Yeah, well, we're having fun, aren't we?" George smiled. He leaned Cathy's head back onto his shoulder so he could lean his own head on hers.

"Yeah", she mumbled sleepily. Cathy had a sudden realization. She would have to tell him, and it would be soon. Would she take advantage of her newfound courage and tell him now, or would she do it when he'd be in his seventh year and she wouldn't have to ruin another year for them? No, she was inebriated tonight. It wasn't right. He wouldn't believe her, and while that would be convenient if he didn't feel the same way, it was also the coward's way out.

"You really do look great tonight, Cathy", mumbled George. "The…the blue", he gestured clumsily to her skirt, "it suits your eyes."

* * *

Cathy took her OWLs, all nine of them. She was quite confident with Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic. They were her favorites. She had much more of a problem with Study of Ancient Runes and Astronomy. The Potions exam was written, so it was alright. She was sure she'd done alright for the written portion of the Astronomy exam, but not so much the practical portion. Since charming Malfoy's hair to flash red and gold in her second year, Cathy had discovered an interest in Charms and Transfiguration, so she figured she'd done alright there. Defense Against the Dark Arts was another area of curiosity, so Cathy didn't worry as much as well.

* * *

It was the middle of the third and final Triwizard Tournament task. Cathy sat between George and Norah, on one side, her Gryffindor friends, on the other, her Hufflepuff friends. She'd tried to match red and yellow that morning, but in a way that wouldn't make it look like it was red and gold, but failed. She pretended her upperclassman's accusations hadn't bothered her, but they really had. She decided to wear neutral colors, but cheered for both Harry and Cedric. Suddenly, there was a burst of red sparks from the middle of the maze. Everyone gasped, and waited with bated breath. Cathy found herself wishing it was either Harry or Cedric just so they could leave the maze and return to safety. Then again, whoever had shot the spark could've been in some life-threatening situation.

It was Fleur. Cathy sighed with relief that she was apparently unharmed, except that she was visibly shaking. The crowd continued waiting. Cathy gripped Norah's hand in apprehension. After what seemed like an eternity, Harry suddenly appeared, holding the Triwizard cup. Beneath him was Cedric Diggory. Immediately, everyone supporting Hogwarts started applauding, including Cathy, until they realized why Harry was sobbing protectively over Cedric's still form.

"No," Norah whispered beside Cathy. Beside her, George took hold of her hand and gripped it tight. Cathy had stopped breathing. Her friend was dead. Cedric was dead.

* * *

The rest of the year only got worse. Cathy learned from Harry about Mad-Eye Moody really being Barty Crouch Jr., and that You-Know-Who was back. That was why Cedric was dead. Cathy was glad to go home to her mother. Ivy was there to assure her that she'd be safe. She was there to assure her that something was being done about it. The Order of the Phoenix would return.


	6. Sixth Year

" _George", Cathy started. It was a week before school had ended, fifth year. After mourning her friend's death for the longest time, and then considering her options for a few days more, Cathy finally realized that it would be best to tell him as soon as possible._

" _Yeah?" George asked. He'd been wondering why Cathy had asked if she could speak to him alone._

" _I have to-", Cathy gulped in air, "To tell you something important, but I need you to promise me something."_

" _Sure, anything", asked George, legitimately concerned._

" _Promise me that we'll always be friends. Promise me that no matter what happens, you and Fred will still trust me with your shenanigans", Cathy forced a smile, though her breath was wavering and she felt close to tears. She was so sure he would only turn her down._

" _Are you worried we'll leave Hogwarts after seventh year and completely forget about you?" George asked, incredulous, "That'll never happen! We'll write. All the time!" George was sure now that that was what was worrying Cathy so much._

" _No. No, that's sweet, but that's got nothing to do with it", Cathy braced herself, then decided to just throw it out there. "I…have feelings for you," Cathy winced at her poorly worded confession. She sounded so pathetic._

" _What?" George's face went slack._

" _I like you", Cathy refused to meet his eyes, "…as more than a friend."_

" _Like…as someone you'd want to go out with?" Cathy looked up, frustration and disbelief on her face._

" _Yes, George. Obviously."_

" _Ha! And you had me worried for a second there!"_

" _What?", Cathy was annoyed now, "This is serious! You need to promise me we'll still be friends."_

" _No, I'm not gonna do that", said George impetuously, as though it was the most obvious reaction ever. Cathy's face fell. She couldn't believe she was losing another friend._

" _Why not?" she tried to stop her lower lip from trembling._

" _Because", said George, shrugging, "Friends don't go out on dates." He grinned cheekily. Cathy's eyes grew large in surprise, her mouth widening in incredulity and annoyance._

" _Oh, that's smooth", she said, nodding appreciatively, the look of incredulity melting into a smug smirk._

" _Well, then, I guess that settles thing", said George._

" _What things?"_

" _Come here", he said, pulling her in for a hug, her face pressed into his chest. "I've been waiting to do this for a while."_

" _What?" asked Cathy, voice muffled._

" _Sshh", he said, patting her on the head and holding on tighter, until Cathy burst into nervous giggles._

" _So, what now?" she asked as her giggles subsided._

" _We're going to go out on dates", he replied matter-of-factly._

* * *

And now it seemed to Cathy that everyone was living at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. That wasn't true. The Weasleys were staying there, and so was Hermione. Eventually, Harry would spend the rest of his summer there too. Ivy and Cathy had temporarily moved there as well to accompany Sirius. Ivy had told everyone she and Cathy would be going on holiday all summer, so until they'd have to buy Cathy's school things, they were under house arrest, like Sirius. Still, all the other witches and wizards were simply members of the Order who stopped by so often, it was as though they lived there. Even Bill ad Charlie had joined the Order, though it was only Bill who'd moved back to England. It was through him that everyone found out Fleur Delacour was working at Gringotts. Bill was teaching her proper English. Charlie was off recruiting foreign wizards to the cause. Sadly, Percy had deserted his family after being appointed Fudge's Junior Assistant. Although, Cathy did get to spend some time with her cousin, Tonks, and was delighted to see how much her mother and father were enjoying actually physically being together again.

Things had been awkward, at first. Ivy had picked Cathy up from King's Cross as usual, but then wasted no time dragging Cathy, school things and all, to the old Black family home. When Cathy and her mum arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place, Ivy had been nervously fidgeting, asking Cathy if she looked alright. Cathy had repeatedly confirmed that the back of her hair was still neat, and yes, your robes are alright. But the truth was that she too was nervous to see George again so soon that summer. She'd sat with her friends at the Hogwarts Express, and Ivy had whisked her away so quickly, she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye.

As for Sirius and Cathy, things were relatively alright. Sirius hadn't exactly expected Cathy to leap into his arms as soon as she saw him, and Cathy hadn't. Cathy still couldn't bring herself to call him any fatherly names, and Sirius expected she never would. It was fine by him, because he recognized himself in her; the talent for Quidditch, the penchant for mischief, the casual attitude he sensed through her letters. She was definitely his daughter. He somewhat regretted passing on that last one to her, because it reminded him too much of his family's aristocratic carelessness, but, call it a fatherly bias, to him, it seemed to take on an endearing quality in his daughter. As for Cathy, seeing her father in the flesh hadn't made him seem more real. Hearing the stories of his legendary youth at Hogwarts straight from Sirius only made him seem even larger than life.

* * *

"That's, er…", Sirius smiled sheepishly at Ivy. He was showing her around, since he'd never taken her there before. He hated his ancestral home, but Ivy was curious about how he'd spent his summers, and how he'd grown up. At the moment, they were standing outside Sirius's messy bedroom from his teenage years. Random items were strewn everywhere. The walls were covered in Gryffindor memorabilia, and old pin-up posters of scantily clad muggle women.

"Wow, I can actually imagine you in here", said Ivy. Her smile twitched at the pin-up posters, but mostly she was preoccupied with remembering her past with Sirius. "I can't believe I fell for the owner of this room." Ivy turned to Sirius and scrunched her face up in mock disgust.

"We were stupid teenagers", said Sirius, shrugging. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they didn't really think that. Cathy had to look away.

* * *

If Cathy had to describe the rest of summer break, she'd say it was full of surprises. And while Harry conjuring a Patronus charm to fight off dementors at Little Whinging definitely took the cake for the biggest surprise of the summer, Cathy surprised herself as well. And George. As it turned out, Cathy was not at all shy when it came to "couple shenanigans", as Ginny so aptly put it, when she, Cathy, and Hermione would talk about these things in their shared bedroom. Of course, Cathy never talked in great detail about what she and George did, for Ginny's sake, and Hermione never talked about Ron at all, to Cathy's surprise. She'd thought something was going to happen between the two soon. She'd always thought she was good at understanding people, unless it directly involved her, in which case, she was at a loss. However, Hermione did comment on her and Ron becoming prefects.

Still, Cathy found herself initiating things with George, pulling him into empty rooms and giving him chaste kisses whenever she could get away with it. Not that George disappointed, especially since he'd learned how to Apparate in his sixth year, which Cathy had thought was annoying at first, since he and Fred would pop up at random places. She'd broken three plates because of them. Still, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes proved useful whenever they would eavesdrop on Order meetings. Especially since Harry had invested his Triwizard Tournament earnings on Fred and George's business venture and the twins could finally expand and experiment to their hearts' content. There was another surprise that summer. Ivy had decided to join the Order. This time around the Order of the Phoenix was sorely lacking in members, and Ivy decided she had to help however she could. While Cathy was proud of her parents, she couldn't help worrying that she might lose her family just as soon as they'd been together again. Cathy knew Ivy was aware of the dangers. She hadn't said a word of it to Cathy's grandparents or her Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Liam.

Another surprise was Cathy's OWLs. She'd gotten 8 OWLs, getting an O for Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic. For Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, Cathy had gotten Es. She'd gotten an A for Study of Ancient Runes, and a P in Astronomy. Cathy decided to pursue almost all the classes she'd gotten OWLs for, with the exception of Study of Ancient Runes. She'd also started worrying about what she was to do after leaving Hogwarts. Unlike Fred and George, she had no idea. The very thought of leaving school, while exciting for the two, was frightening to Cathy and made her sick to her stomach.

* * *

Cathy, Hermione, Harry, the Weasleys, and the rest of the Order were at King's Cross. They'd gone separately, of course to avoid attracting attention. Ivy and Cathy walked with Harry, whom they'd been getting closer to. After all, as his godfather, Sirius should've gotten custody of Harry as a baby. They were practically his next-of-kin. Cathy jerked her hand back in surprise as the cold, damp nose of a mangy black dog tapped her hand. Sirius had squeezed himself between Cathy and Harry.

" _Sirius!_ " Ivy exclaimed under her breath from Cathy's right, " _What are you doing?_ " The dog seemed to smile as he walked by them. Then, bopping Cathy's hand once more with his nose, Sirius trotted ahead, then turned to face Harry, clearly telling him to follow. Harry turned to Cathy, and she tilted her head towards Sirius, signaling for Harry to follow him. She watched them disappear into an unused waiting room. Later, she'd find out that Sirius had shown Harry an old photo of the original Order of the Phoenix.

* * *

Cathy was disappointed to hear that Professor Grubbly-Plank had taken over teaching Care of Magical Creatures, not that she had anything against the original Care of Magical Creatures professor; she just worried over Hagrid's disappearance. And anyway, Cathy was far more worried about Professor Umbridge. She didn't like the look of the ministry lady as Umbridge watched them smugly, barely hiding her distaste.

Cathy and her friends were right to dislike Umbridge. As the school year progressed, Umbridge only gained more power, bestowed upon her by the cowardly Minister for Magic who believed Dumbledore was forming an army. Fudge thought setting Umbridge up as the Hogwarts High Inquisitor would prevent this from happening, but all he'd done was unleash a power-mad, self-righteous racist loose on the school. It didn't take long for Fred, George, Cathy, and even Lee Jordan to get a taste of Umbridge's particular brand of detention.

* * *

" _Levicorpus"_ , Cathy levitated an unfortunate first year a few feet off the floor before the spell wore off and he drop with a loud thud. "I'm so sorry"

It was well into the school year and people had finally realized they weren't about to learn anything with Umbridge's method of teaching DADA. Thanks to Harry and his friends, those who wanted to really learn how to defend themselves formed the DA, Dumbledore's Army, called so to spite the Ministry and their ridiculous fears.

"That's alright, Cathy. That was much better", said Harry before moving on to Neville who had yet to master the Disarming Charm.

"Do you wanna come back here later tonight?" asked George, suddenly appearing behind her.

"Well, Umbridge couldn't possibly punish me any further", replied Cathy, remembering the literally scarring detentions the High Inquisitor was handing out like candy these days.

"I wouldn't be so sure", Fred interjected, "Harry, George, and I got banned from Quidditch for life just yesterday."

"What?" asked Cathy, dropping the first year boy again, "Sorry, Malcolm. I got distracted. I swear I had it that time."

" _Levicorpus_ " Fred said, easing Malcolm into the air, showing off. He'd been okay about George and Cathy getting together, just treating it as another way to tease the two. "Well", he started, still supporting Malcolm in mid-air, "We 'attacked' Malfoy for provoking us, so naturally, we were banned from Quidditch for life."

"We're pretty upset about it, but that just means more time to expand Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes", George said, grinning conspiratorially at his brother who was keeping Malcolm aloft for longer than Cathy had ever managed.

"I thought Umbridge had banned your products?" said Cathy, she smiled, obviously pleased that it wasn't stopping them. George shrugged. Fred finally let Malcolm down.

"I don't think Umbridge even knows the Hufflepuff Quidditch team exists", Cathy said, laughing. "So, I think we're good for later." Behind George, Fred pretended to scrunch his face in disgust.

" _Impedimenta!_ " Cathy exclaimed, knocking back a dummy that Annabeth had sent her way. It flew back several feet before crashing into a wall.

* * *

Later that night, Cathy snuck out of the Hufflepuff basement and met George at the corridor where the Room of Requirement would appear for them. When he saw him waiting there, her heart sped up. He stood in front of the door that had appeared, waiting.

"Shall we?", asked Cathy.

"After you", George replied, giving an exaggerated flourish as he opened the door. Inside was a small living room with a fireplace and a couch. George immediately flopped onto the couch, patting the space beside him.

"You're seriously fine with this?" asked Cathy. She had long admitted to herself that she didn't know how boys' minds worked when it came to relationships. George was her first relationship, and really, if she listened to her friends, boys only wanted one thing.

"What?" he asked, puzzled.

"You're fine with us just sitting here?" Cathy clarified as she came over and sat beside him.

"Why wouldn't I be? I haven't been alone with you since we got here", he watched Cathy fold her legs and face him on the couch.

"You don't want to…do other things?" Cathy felt suddenly shy. Summer had been a whirlwind. She'd gone with her guts, and what seemed like fun at the time. Only when she rehashed details with her friends did she realize that the relationship would have to progress somehow, and instead of starting slow, she'd had a running start and skipped several steps.

"Well, I wouldn't mind some snogging here and there", said George, teasing.

"Oh, okay, I can do that", Cathy smiled back, relieved.

"Wait, what? You don't have to do anything you don't want to", George said, serious now, sensing that something was bothering Cathy.

"Okay, but what about you…? What if you…?"

"I can wait", George said, laughing, and then catching himself. He didn't want Cathy to think he was trivializing her worries. "I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I've thought about it", George shrugged as Cathy blushed, "but if you don't want to yet, it's completely alright."

"Okay", Cathy said, smiling now. She leaned closer, brought a hand behind George's neck and gave him a soft kiss.

"You're not rewarding me, are you?" he asked, grinning. Their foreheads were still touching.

"No, you're right, we haven't been alone together in a while", Cathy replied, and George pulled her onto his lap. They kissed again, this time deeper, and Cathy felt George smile into the kiss as she snaked her arms over his shoulders. After a while, they had to part to take a breath. Cathy laughed in relief as she leaned her forehead onto the crook of George's shoulder. He leaned his head on hers and rubbed her swollen lower lip with his right thumb.

"I did that", he said proudly.

"I helped", she replied, smiling and placing a kiss on his neck that was so conveniently within reach. Cathy pulled back and adjusted so that she was facing him while still on his lap. She took his left hand and turned it over to the scar. _I will follow the rules_ , Cathy had one similar to it, written in her handwriting. He took her hand as well and ran a thumb over her scar. It was still fresh from that day's detention.

"I got mad at her when she was interrogating me, and when she wasn't looking, replaced her sugar with salt", Cathy smiled ruefully, "It was stupid, but I don't regret it one bit."

"You're right, that was completely stupid and pointless", agreed George, smiling, obviously pleased.

"You?" Cathy asked, noticing that his scar hadn't yet healed completely too.

"I took a homesick Hufflepuff first year to the kitchens", George shrugged. Cathy smiled warmly at him, and settled back onto his lap, sitting sideways.

"Fred and I were thinking…maybe this is where it ends. After all, we've got the joke shop in Diagon Alley…" George started.

"What do you mean? Of course this is where it ends. It's your seventh year. You're leaving Hogwarts"

* * *

Things only got worse when Harry reported dreaming that Mr. Weasley had been attacked at the Ministry. And they did find him there, suffering from blood loss and venomous snake bites. Most disturbing of all, Harry had dreamt that he was the snake. After that, Harry had grown distant from everyone. Cathy noticed, but she didn't know what to do to make him feel better. She had no idea what was happening to Harry.

Christmas was spent at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Cathy had never spent Christmas with such a large gathering before. She and Ivy visited her grandparents, like they did every year, and Cathy noted that Uncle Liam and Aunt Eleanor's daughter was getting older, and Cathy was relieved to realize she was still too young to go to Hogwarts for a few years more. Even then, Cathy had an inkling that things were starting to go bad. The rest of Christmas break, Cathy was happier to spend with the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Sirius at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. She'd also heard more stories about Luna Lovegood, whom she'd been curious about since seeing the odd girl around school. Cathy resolved to befriend her during one of the DA meetings.

* * *

The rest of the school year passed abysmally. While Cathy never took Divination, she was appalled that Umbridge would kick out Professor Trelawney just like that. Luckily, Dumbledore came to the professor's rescue. That was when Cathy and the others began to worry about Hagrid. Dolores Umbridge was notorious for hating "half-breeds". Would she try to evict Hagrid from the school grounds as well?

It was worse than Cathy had thought. A friend of Cho Chang's had told on them. Dumbledore's Army was dissolved, reduced to a bunch of students in detention, scarring themselves with Umbridge's special quills. And then, worse, Dumbledore was gone. It was stupid, so stupid of them. The Inquisitorial Squad found the parchment they'd signed, and right on top, it read "Dumbledore's Army". They'd implicated him. He'd taken the blame, and now he was gone. They were left in the clutches of Dolores Umbridge.

* * *

Cathy tried to appear as though she wasn't expecting any mischief afoot as she stood by the door to the hall where fifth years were taking their OWLs. She knew what Fred and George had planned, and she wanted a good view, but she didn't want to get caught loitering before she got to see the show. From far away, Cathy heard the explosions, and she knew it'd begun.

Cathy flattened herself against the wall as she saw Umbridge open the doors to the hall, checking to see what the noise was about. _Big mistake_ , thought Cathy, smirking. A little sparkler zipped erratically into Umbridge's face, before popping. Incensed, Umbridge looked around for someone to blame, but just as she was about to see Cathy conspicuously hiding, more sparklers and fireworks flew around Umbridge, and into the exam hall. Umbridge followed, trying to do something about it.

Cathy peeked through the open doors. More and more fireworks started filling the hall, exploding at Umbridge and the Slytherins. Cathy laughed as a firework chased Vincent Crabbe around the hall. By now, people were screaming and laughing. The whole hall was in chaos, and behind Cathy, other students had joined in watching. Just as the fireworks peeked, Fred and George flew in carrying more fireworks. They tossed them about, causing more fantastic and colorful explosions.

"Ready?!" one of them shouted as he tossed a large firework into the air. As the twins flew away, it exploded into a large dragon head and chased Umbridge outside, catching her in its fiery maw and exploding into countless sparks that burst on contact at the decrees Umbridge had set, destroying them. The twins flew outside, tossing one last firework that exploded into a fizzing, sparking "W", and with that, Fred and George Weasley left Hogwarts.

* * *

"They've got Sirius at the Department of Mysteries", Harry said in a rush as what was left of the DA: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Cathy, followed him outside the castle. Cathy didn't know how Harry and Hermione had gotten rid of Umbridge, and figured she probably didn't want to know.

"Who's got Sirius?!" Cathy asked.

"Voldemort. They're torturing him. How can we get to the Ministry?" Harry asked, growing desperate.

"We fly, of course", said Luna.

It was difficult climbing onto something you couldn't see. Cathy would've been fascinated if she wasn't so worried about Sirius. She'd read about thestrals, but never wanted to see one. Still, Cathy followed Harry into battle, convincing herself that Sirius would be okay. He'd been through worse, of course he'd be okay, they just had to get to him in time.

* * *

But Cathy was wrong. Staring at the Death Eaters now, they knew it was a trap. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had lured Harry into taking his prophecy by planting a false vision. Cathy willed her wand hand to stop shaking as she noticed the Death Eaters that kept appearing.

" _Expelliarmus!"_ , Harry cried, disarming Lucius Malfoy. Immediately, the other Death Eaters struck. Cathy and her friends scattered among the rows of shelves containing prophecies.

" _Stupefy!_ " Cathy knocked back one Death Eater only for him to be replaced by another. On either side of her, Neville and Luna ran, casting spells and counterspells everywhere. The three of them convende with the others at a fork in the path.

" _Reducto!_ " Ginny aimed the blast at a Death Eater behind Cathy, but the force toppled several shelves of prophecies, and they fell in an avalanche, luckily, taking some Death Eaters with them. As they ran to an unmarked door, Cathy noticed that Ginny's ankle was broken, and Luna's nose was bleeding. Behind her, Hermione dragged along a disoriented Ron. Finally, they reached the doorway, but as it opened, they fell in.

It was the Death Chamber, though no one knew it then. It was empty, save for a billowing Veil in the middle. As the seven of them gathered themselves, to their dismay they were surrounded. Black mists, Death Eaters, flew into the room, each taking a student hostage. Cathy felt the point of a wand at her throat as someone viciously gripped her from behind.

"You really thought you could win against Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters?" sneered Lucius Malfoy as he watched a cornered Harry who still had the prophecy in his hand. As soon as the words left his mouth, a white light filled the room and several wisps of white smoke blew in, attacking the Death Eaters and freeing Cathy and her friends. Immediately, Cathy recognized the Order members, including her parents. Ivy was dueling with Dolohov as Sirius helped Harry take on Malfoy.

Cathy ran to join her friends huddled on one side of the room. Hermione had tended to Luna's bloody nose. It wasn't caused by a spell, but because she was knocked backwards into a shelf back at the Department of Mysteries. Ginny's ankle, on the other hand, was crippled by a spell, and no one knew how to fix it. Ron, too, was still disoriented, though the curse was wearing off.

"Nice one, James!" Cathy spun around at Sirius's voice, and just in time, she saw Bellatrix Lestrange point her wand, as though in slow motion, and she watched as Sirius fell into the Veil.

"No!" Ivy shrieked, also witnessing the scene. Cathy leaped to pull her mother out of harm's way.

" _Levicorpus!_ " she shouted, and the Death Eater that had aimed a curse at her mother flew back, slamming into a wall. Cathy's pulse thudded in her ears. Her father was gone…again. She'd almost lost her mother. She was aware of her mother angrily yelling spells at any Death Eater that dared attack them, though they'd started to flee. Cathy saw Remus holding a sobbing Harry who presumably had tried to follow Sirius. Cathy's limbs grew slack, and as the last of the Death Eaters were dealt with, she fell to the ground beside her sobbing mother. Harry ran after Bellatrix Lestrange.

* * *

They'd cleared Sirius's name after his death at the Ministry. Ivy and Cathy could finally revert their surnames to Black. Small consolation, Cathy thought, for her father's big sacrifice. Cathy had numbly followed the others into the Atrium of the Ministry and seen firsthand Harry battling You-Know-Who who'd possessed him. Finally, the Ministry was forced to acknowledge that Harry and Dumbledore were right. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. But Cathy could never get past the bitterness her father's death. She'd only really spent time with him for one summer. She'd known him for one summer, and her family was torn apart yet again. And maybe now it was worse, because he was gone for good, and Ivy had lost him twice now. This time, Cathy didn't know how to make things better. She didn't know if things could ever be okay again.


	7. Seventh Year

Cathy ran her hands through her hair for the millionth time, tugging at the roots; she thought she might go bald. She was packing her trunk, though it was too early to be thinking of returning to Hogwarts. She hadn't even gone to Diagon Alley to purchase her school things yet. In fact, she had rarely left the house all summer. From letters, she heard of Bill's engagement to Fleur, the success of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and Charlie's discovery that Norbert (the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon Hagrid hatched in his hut) was actually Norberta. Break was spent in the stifling gloom and tension of Cathy's childhood home. Giving up on packing, Cathy sat at the foot of her bad, pulling her knees to her chest. She finally knew what she wanted. She would become a naturalist, to be specific, a Magizoologist. She would travel the world, studying different types of magical creatures. She would leave the claustrophobic confines of the house in mourning.

Cathy and Ivy hadn't had a chance to stop and really let Sirius's death sink in. After Sirius's name was cleared, Ivy had spent every waking moment making sure he'd gotten the proper funeral he deserved. Then, she went about changing her and Cathy's surnames in his honor, and ensuring the terms of his Last Will and Testament were followed. This time, Number 12, Grimmauld Place was bequeathed to Harry. Even he didn't want it. Harry donated it to the Order to use as headquarters. It was the first thing Ivy got rid of. Sirius's more beloved possessions stayed in the family, like his old broomstick, too out-of-date to keep up in a Quidditch match now, but Cathy still kept it in her bedroom. One afternoon, while looking through boxes Remus had helped bring in from 12 Grimmauld Place, Cathy had found Ivy in the garage with Sirius's flying motorbike. Ivy ran a hand along the handle bars then brought both hands to her face. She started sobbing, mumbling something about a fight that Cathy couldn't quite understand. She came over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her. They were practically the same height now, Cathy noted. They stood there, mother and daughter, as Cathy comforted Ivy crying onto her shoulder.

After that, Cathy felt a little better, though she never admitted it, out of guilt. Cathy was pulling herself together. She would pull through, not just because she had a dream to look forward to now, but because, once again, it was just her and her mother. She'd have to pull through, because Ivy had just lost her husband for the second time, and Cathy was going to be there for her again. After all, it's what her father would've done.

* * *

"George!" Cathy shrieked, getting a running start and jumping into his arms. She had only seen him once over the summer, and that was her father's funeral. He'd held her hand through the whole thing, and stood by her unwaveringly.

"I missed you", he murmured into her hair as he set her down.

"Me too", she replied, moving the school things she'd bought out of the way of the twins' many customers.

"Hey", said Fred from beside George, "Remember me? We're best mates too. You're dating my brother who looks exactly like me?"

"I missed you to, Fred", said Cathy, coming over to hug him.

"Yeah, me too", he gave her a pat of the head as she released him.

"You alright?" asked George.

"I'm better", she replied, smiling so he wouldn't worry.

"Cathy!" She spun around and found Ginny running to her. With yet another shriek of joy, she met her halfway and enveloped her in a warm hug as well, eventually finding Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and pulling them in too. She'd missed everybody.

"How are you doing?" Cathy asked Harry once everyone had gone their separate ways to roam around the joke shop.

"I'm…alright. You?" He replied. Through this whole struggle, Cathy knew that it wasn't Ivy she could count on the most to understand how she felt and what she was going through. Sirius meant so much more to her mother than to Cathy who'd only really gotten to know him just recently. If anyone could understand, it would've been Harry. Though Sirius was more like an older brother than a father to him, Harry could understand the gut-wrenching feeling of having someone you'd only just gotten to know and become close to be taken away from you just as suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm alright too", she nodded. After a few minutes of silence they spent checking different colored bottles full of strong smelling liquids, Cathy spoke again. "I heard you spoke to him a lot…at Hogwarts, I mean. The whole Floo thing?" Harry didn't need to ask who "he" was.

"Yeah, he gave me advice about my scar and Lord Voldemort", he shrugged, "He used to ask me about you all the time."

"Really?" Cathy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah", Harry was grinning fondly now, "I think he thought it would a bit weird if he asked you about your love life at school. He asked me to keep an eye on you for him, you know, keep all the unworthy suitors away. Didn't know how to tell him you and George were…" Harry trailed off, chuckling at the memory of a slightly awkward Sirius asking him if boys were treating Cathy properly.

"Well, he was right. It would've been weird for us both", Cathy said, laughing along, "I'm pretty sure he figured out about me and George eventually, though."

After the conversation ended, Cathy felt much better. Harry had left the shop with Ron and Hermione. Cathy continued to wander around, though whether unconscious or not, she and George were always within sight of each other.

"It's a Pygmy puff", said Ginny, showing Cathy a little purple ball of fur named Arnold.

"Is that…a miniature Puffskein?" Cathy asked, immediately spotting the cages where the Pygmy puffs were; at the violently pink section of the shop that advertised their WonderWitch line.

"Hold on", George said, suddenly appearing beside Cathy, blocking her path to the Pygmy puffs. "Normally, I wouldn't stop anyone from purchasing any of our products, but hear me out. You have a lizard and an owl," said George, raising his eyebrow at her.

"And Digby and Grumpus are both perfectly happy with their living conditions, thank you very much. I take their well-being very seriously," Cathy said, facing George and folding her arms. Beside her, Ginny backed away, turning to look at Fred and George's other ingenious inventions.

"And you intend on sneaking _both_ Digby and a Pygmy puff into Hogwarts," George said more than asked.

"Yes," Cathy said, unwaveringly staring down the tall figure blocking her way. Fred and George were the first to breed miniature Puffskeins, making the Pygmy puff breed unique in itself, even though they were selling so fast.

"Alright," George finally conceded. Cathy bought a pink Pygmy puff that day and named her Polka, as Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Liam's little daughter told her to in a letter.

* * *

_Dear George,_

_I hope this doesn't go to your head, but Hogwarts is not the same without you._

_That just went straight to your head, didn't it? Oh well, it's the truth. Harry's Gryffindor Quidditch Captain now, though I'm sure you've heard from Ron. Snape is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. I…have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, he's far too easy to dislike, on the other, he's certainly a better professor than Lockhart. The new potions professor is named Slughorn. He's got this thing called the "Slug Club", which I am apparently a part of now, by virtue of my being in his NEWT class. Merlin's beard, just thinking of taking my NEWTs makes me nauseous. The only reason I want to work at the Ministry is to get into the Beasts Division of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Maybe from there I can move on to travelling the world studying said beasts? But, I have to do well with all these classes right? I suppose gaining Slughorn's favour should be a good thing, but I wish it were more for my talent and less for my simply showing up to class._

_Sorry, I'm rambling and ranting now. How are you doing? I honestly want to know everything. It'll feel like you're here with me._

_Love,_

_Cathy_

* * *

_Dear Fred,_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the clock again. I am so worried over those three. Have you heard that Katie Bell was cursed on our last Hogsmeade weekend? She's alright now, thank goodness. Also, I don't know if you and George should be bothering Ginny so much about who she goes out with. She's asked you not to, hasn't she? Still, you'll probably hear from someone (Ron) if not from me, but I'm fairly certain she's seeing Dean Thomas now. I say, good job, Ginny._

_Best Wishes,_

_Cathy_

* * *

"How are you?" Cathy knew her friends were only concerned for her well-being, so she answered politely, but really, she was starting to get tired of the questions and the pitying stares. How was she supposed to move on, when no one would let her forget that only months ago, her estranged-newly-befriended father had suddenly been murdered.

"I'm okay, really," Cathy insisted.

"Okay, that's good," Sam paused, flipping through the Quidditch magazine she was reading in their corner of the common room. "Can I ask...?" She started.

"About what?"

"You and George," Sam said straightforwardly.

"Um, what about?" Cathy asked, eyes still wide from mild surprise.

"What's it like, the two of you?" Sam brought her knees together, then leaned closer to Cathy.

"What do you mean? We're good"

"Yes, but _details_ ," pressed Sam.

"Well, I've always known about his soft spot, I guess. He has this caring side," Cathy blushed. She sounded cheesy even to herself.

"You two are adorable," Sam sighed.

* * *

_Dear Cathy,_

_You're right. Straight to my head. And don't worry about your NEWTs too much. I'm sure you'll do great. You always do. Now, Snape finally teaching DADA, he must be celebrating. He's only been begging for that post for his entire teaching career. Anyway, Ginny wrote about that Slug Club. She says there's a Christmas party coming up and people are bringing dates. Should I be worried? I mean about you, not Ginny. Except, we'd still like you to watch out for who she's seeing. We trust your judgment completely. I mean, who are you taking?_

_Anyway, everything is alright on this end. Fred and I are thinking of buying Zonko's at Hogsmeade. Apparently, it's closed down. I'm counting on seeing you at Christmas._

_Love,_

_George_

* * *

"Hermione?" Cathy exclaimed as she spotted Hermione hiding in a corner of the room. The other girl shushed her vehemently.

"I'm hiding," Hermione explained, glancing at Cormac McLaggen to make sure he hadn't spotted her yet.

"Ugh. McLaggen. He's vile," Cathy said into her cup as she drank, casually moving to block Hermione from sight, though Hermione was taller.

"I made a mistake," admitted Hermione.

"I thought you'd asked Ron?"

"We got into a fight. Apparently, he's Lavender Brown's "Won-Won" now," Hermione snarked, though she was still distractedly looking out for her date, keeping him within her sights, so she could be sure to be out of his.

"Cathy, there you are!" Cathy turned to Hermione, looking apologetic.

"It's alright. Go. I'll keep moving around the room. Less chances of him finding me," Hermione said, bitterly laughing at her situation.

"Where've you been?" asked Lisle, whom Cathy had invited as her plus one. Her other friends were either busy (Annabeth and Paige), or disinterested in the idea of dressing up and going to a party composed mostly of Slytherins (Sam and Norah).

"Helping out a friend," Cathy leaned in to whisper, "Hermione's hiding from Cormac McLaggen."

"Hm. So, that's who she asked. I thought she was going with Ron," said Lisle. Cathy was surprised for a second, until she realized she probably talked about her Gryffindor friends with her Hufflepuff friends and vice versa.

"They had a falling out," said Cathy.

"Ah, Miss Black, there you are!" Cathy jumped. She wasn't used to being referred to as Miss Black, yet, while Slughorn had never taught her before, and thus never knew her as Miss Bennett. "You were talking about your fascination with Acromantulas. Did you know that their highly toxic venom can be used in a multitude of potions?"

* * *

Christmas break finally came, and Cathy returned home to find her mother in much better shape. She'd seen her friends and sister many times while Cathy was at school, and Cathy was glad to find she was finally ready to leave the house.

Like the year before, Ivy and Cathy spent Christmas with both friends and relatives. First, they'd visited their relatives on Ivy's side, and then they visited the Burrow, where most of their friends were. Cathy proudly showed off passing her Apparition exam by Apparating whenever she could, though she managed not to surprise people into dropping plates.

"This school year needs to end soon. I keep missing you," George said, as they sat at the foot of his old bed, in the bedroom he used to share with Fred before they moved to a flat on top of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The others were scattered about the Burrow or in the kitchen, talking things over with the Order members who'd come for Christmas.

"That's really cheesy, George," said Cathy, leaning into him with his arm around her.

"Admit it, you missed me too," George teased, " _Hogwarts is not the same without you_ "

"I…okay, well, it's true, and I do not regret writing that," said Cathy adamantly.

"I know," said George. He leaned over to kiss her forehead, and then her temple, working his way down to her lips.

* * *

The rest of the school year passed uneventfully, especially compared to all the other years since Harry first entered Hogwarts. Cathy, like all the other students, was relieved. She focused all her energy on her NEWTs. This was her last shot at showing the wizarding world that she was capable enough to work for the Ministry, especially for the department of her choice. Without Fred, George, and even Lee, she lacked the direction to pull pranks. Sure, whenever she could, Cathy still snuck into the kitchens. She would also explore the castle's secret passageways, knowing it would be her last chance as soon as she left Hogwarts. But Cathy had never been one for causing other people trouble unless provoked. She still told off nasty Slytherins who taunted and bullied her Muggle-born friends, and would occasionally get back at them. However, when it came to the twins' major pranks, she'd always contributed behind the scenes, getting them the information they needed, helping with logistics. The rest of the planning had always been up to Fred and George.

It was during one of Cathy's late night exploring that she saw it. She'd been thinking about how the year was ending, and she would never walk these halls (at least as a student) ever again, practically driving herself to tears, really. From the corner of her eye, she saw a bright flash, and noticed that the clouds over the astronomy tower had started swirling. As Cathy watched in horror, the clouds began to form the Dark Mark. Immediately, Cathy ran back inside. She'd planned on alerting Professor Dumbledore, but realized that she didn't know how to enter his study. Even as she ran to McGonagall, her mind started to race. How had the Death Eaters gotten in? Did this have something to do with how frequently Dumbledore had been away from Hogwarts? And then Cathy was struck cold with fear. Was Dumbledore away from Hogwarts even then? It made sense. How else could the Death Eaters manage to sneak into the castle?

They managed to alert some Order members, who came to save the students. The fight wasn't as terrifying and hopeless as when Cathy had been in the thick of it the year before at the Ministry. She hung back this time, watching over the other students, especially the younger ones. She could hear the Death Eaters wrecking the castle. She could hear the manic laughter of her father's murderer. It rang in her ears long after the battle, making her blood boil. But the battle, itself, didn't last very long. It seemed the objective had been achieved. Albus Dumbledore was gone, and with him, so was Hogwarts's safety. There had only been one other casualty, a Death Eater, and Bill had been attacked by an untransformed werewolf named Greyback, leaving a large scar on his face.

* * *

Many people attended Dumbledore's funeral. Most, Cathy didn't even recognize. She consoled those who'd known Dumbledore better than she had, and numbly proceeded about the task of attending the funeral. She noted that this was the second funeral she'd attended in almost exactly a year. When the funeral ended, but people still lingered, Cathy stood at the edge of the crowd and watched them. Beside her, George reached out to take her hand.


	8. The Resistance and The Battle

Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow was a rare moment of happiness as the days grew darker and more perilous. And in fact, some were still mourning Mad-Eye's death after what people were quickly calling the Battle of the Seven Potters. Even while they were preparing for the wedding, they were also casting multiple protective spells over the Burrow and the tents where the ceremony and reception would be, reminding everyone of the constant danger.

Ivy had been getting better, since Sirius's death, but only in that she'd finally started leaving the house and seeing her friends and family. She'd quit her job at the Daily Prophet altogether, relying on savings and the money Sirius had left. She threw herself into work with the Order, and fully aware of the dangers this presented, she'd been arranging safe travel to America for her sister's family and her parents. It would've been more difficult to persuade her sister and brother-in-law if it were not for their daughter, and the frailty of their parents. As for Cathy, there was nothing Ivy could do. She was dead set on finding work as a Magizoologist, though there was no such work to be found in the ministry at that time, or anywhere else. There were bigger problems. The truth is, even Cathy was relying on inheritance money, and still living with Ivy, though like her mother, she'd been spending as little time as possible at home.

"You know what?" George began, and Cathy could tell he was gearing up to tell a joke.

"No, what?" she responded, one eyebrow lifted.

"At least, now that my head's all lopsided and all, I'm sure you weren't just after me for my good looks," he said, smirking at her. He was referring, of course, to his missing ear. Cathy laughed, and for a while, everything was alright. They were slow-dancing during the wedding reception, and everyone was happy.

"You know, you could move in with us for a while. I'm sure Fred wouldn't mind," said George after some thoughtful silence. Talks about the future weren't uncommon for them these days. There was only one other issue as big as this in their lives and talking about the war during a rare happy occasion was unthinkable.

"I really don't want to impose," Cathy said.

"But you wouldn't be. I want you there," he smiled down at her, judging her reaction, "Besides, I wouldn't have to worry about you so much if you were there". Normally, Cathy would blush and laugh at him worrying about her and saying something so cheesy, but she knew why he would worry. Everyone was always worried. Attacks where growing more frequent each day, and it was no longer safe to be walking around even in broad daylight.

"Well, if you put it like that, I wouldn't have to worry about you as much either," now it was her turn to judge his reaction.

"So you'll do it? You'll move in with me?" he asked her, more serious now.

"As long as it's not an imposition, and you have to let me carry my own weight," she replied sternly, although the weight of what they'd just agreed to wasn't lost on them. And just at that moment, a Patronus arrived warning them of a coming attack on the wedding. The Minister for Magic was dead. The crowd dispersed, and there was chaos.

Ivy grabbed Cathy by the arm and started running, and as soon as they were out of the bubble of protective spells, Ivy apparated, with Cathy following along, not even sure where they were going.

* * *

"Where are we?" asked Cathy, peering into the darkness of the forest they'd apparated into. Ivy shushed her quietly, pulling her along deeper into the woods. Cathy started panicking. She couldn't see a thing. What if her mother had finally lost it? What if this wasn't her mother at all? What if she were about to die? What had happened to everyone at the wedding?

Finally, Ivy stopped walking, which was perhaps odder still, because Cathy could sense no difference in their surroundings with any other part of the woods they'd passed. Ivy held her hand, and moved carefully between two trees that, if and only if, looked at in the right way almost seemed like a doorway.

Cathy was immediately overwhelmed by the sight. What lay within the magical barriers they had clearly just entered was a small campsite. There were two tents situated along the perimeter of the barrier that Cathy could see, now that she was inside. In the middle of the campsite was a dying fire that provided some light. There were five other people there: two older wizards and one younger one, whom Cathy didn't recognize, and (a very dirty and mussed up) Annabeth and Paige. Her ex-roommates and fellow Hufflepuffs immediately ran up to embrace her.

"We heard about what happened at the wedding," Paige said, as they released her.

"What…?" was all Cathy could get out.

"News travels fast these days. We have a whole network underground, but no updates so far. The attack may still be going on," Annabeth explained as she surreptitiously searched Cathy for injuries. Ivy went over to one of the older wizards who was fiddling with what looked like an old muggle radio, most likely enchanted.

"Who's 'we'…?" Cathy asked, taking in the rest of the campsite, barely realizing how long their trek to the secret entrance had been.

"The Resistance, of course," replied Annabeth.

"The Order," added Paige.

"Mum never mentioned…" had Ivy been keeping this resistance movement a secret to keep her out of the actual fighting? Cathy felt a surge of frustration.

"Well, we were training to be Aurors, anyway," shrugged Paige, taking in the look of disbelief that had crossed Cathy's face.

And despite Ivy's protestations ("I was only taking you to a safer place…" and "You're not equipped…"), Cathy joined the resistance, travelling with her mother's group, protecting those who needed them, whenever they got word of another Death Eater attack. And of course, she listened to Potterwatch.

* * *

Finally, the war reached its peak and Ivy, Cathy, and the rest of the resistance received news that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were at Hogwarts. The final battle would commence, and they were being summoned.

Cathy spotted George among the sea of supporters and Order members flooding to Hogwarts to come to it's aid. She ran to him. She felt herself lifted a few inches off the floor as she buried her face in his chest, and fought the urge to sob. It had been so long, and so much had happened, since they'd last seen each other. She heard Fred gag as she and George went in for a kiss. Finally, they pulled away.

"I missed you too, Fred," she said, laughing, despite the grim nature of their reunion.

"Look, I missed you too, and I'm sorry to cut this short, but-," Fred gestured around them as people charged to wherever they were needed.

"You should go. Follow the other students," said George, suddenly serious, as though he'd just noticed what was happening.

"Don't do that whole bravado Knight-in-Shining-Armor act," Cathy frowned up at him.

"It's not that-," George started, but stopped when Cathy pulled up her shirt to reveal a red scar that stretched from her right side and tapered off somewhere above her navel.

"I know what I'm getting into," she said, her gaze fixed coldly on George, "Trust me, I know." Cathy reiterated, thoughts flashing to Sirius's death, her mother's shut-down afterward, and then the countless battles she'd fought, the many times she'd almost lost another person she cared for, and even almost losing her own life.

"It was a curse. We couldn't heal it. She was aiming for it to stab at my chest, but someone knocked her down," Cathy explained, after no one said anything.

"George…" Fred said, and George nodded in agreement.

"Be careful," said George.

"You too," replied Cathy as she started backing away to join her friends wherever they would fight. She was about to turn away when a realization hit her. "I love you", she said, though her tone was urgent, almost gruff, as though she had to convince him of it, make him believe, before it was too late.

"I love you too," George replied, and they parted ways.

The battle began, and Cathy was separated from the twins and Ivy as she, Annabeth, and Paige ran to the kitchens to free the house elves, not surprised to find that they all chose to stay and defend the school.

* * *

The first thing Cathy noticed when she entered the Great Hall in a stupor, stunned by all the dead laid out on the floor, was the knot of bright red hair huddled on one side. The Weasleys. She saw Ron run to George, and momentarily, relief flooded her, followed quickly by grief as she saw them sobbing into each other; as Mrs. Weasley's wailing finally made it to her ears. She wanted to vomit. She walked toward George slowly, and no one noticed her. Finally, she saw him. Fred lay on the ground, eyes closed, mouth stilled, but the ghost of a smirk on his face, just as it always was when he was alive. Cathy felt a strangled sob escape her, but it was drowned out by Mrs. Weasley, and she'd covered her mouth with both hands. She looked up to George, she was beside him now, but he was watching Fred, crying violently, as though willing him to get up. Cathy knew it wasn't happening. She knew that feeling. Still, she silently reached out for his hand, and cried with him.

After a moment, her tears had finally died down, her cheeks still damp. She was silent now, and she felt hollow. George had not let go of her hand yet, though his crying had turned into silent sobs. She held on to him. That was when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Harry, eyes red, cheeks also damp. For a moment, Cathy was relieved to see him, until she saw the look in his eyes, apologetic and pained, as he held her hand and pulled her along to another part of the Great Hall. She let her hand slip from George's, but she didn't look back to see if he'd noticed as she followed Harry.

On the ground lay Tonks and Remus, Cathy's breathing grew uneven as a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill over. Her head throbbed. She thought she might go crazy. It would never end. It would go on and on until everyone she loved was dead. Then she saw her, the person Harry had brought her to see. She could hear him beginning to sob beside her, her hand still in his. Ivy, her mother, lay beside Remus, clearly dead and long gone. Cathy didn't even know how she'd died. She felt the air leave her chest and then she was crying again, so much that she couldn't even see where she was going as she wrenched her hand from Harry's and ran to an empty corridor. She let go, then. She screamed for all she was worth, and cried harder than she'd ever cried in her entire life. Her mother, the one person she thought she'd always have; the one person who'd been there for her from the very beginning. For as long as she could remember, it had always been just her and her mother, Cathy and Ivy. Home was Cathy and Ivy; home meant her mother. Now, her mother was gone. Cathy huddled against a crumbling stone column until she felt someone's hand on the back of her neck. She didn't move.

"Cathy," came George's tired voice, "We have to go now. Harry left. He's…gone. We think he might've gone to…" George didn't finish. Cathy looked up, and tired eyes, met tired eyes. She let him pull her up, and held his hand as they walked to the courtyard where the others had gathered.

Cathy saw and heard everything, but what little fight had been left in her dissipated completely when she saw Harry's limp body in Hagrid's arms. He was gone too. She saw Ginny try to run to him, and saw her parents stop her. She heard Voldemort's speech, the voice that had been projected into their heads, cold and frightening, chilled her still, but instead of wanting to join him, as Malfoy had, she just wanted to stand there and let him kill her, let it be done with. The thought made her hold tighter to George's hand, against everything inside her that just wanted to let go and die. She saw Neville stand up against Voldemort, and a tiny, almost imperceptible, spark began inside her. His speech touched the beginnings of an idea in her head. Everyone she loved, the people she cared about who'd died, their deaths would not be in vain. It didn't matter, still, if she died, Cathy decided, as long as she would die fighting for what she and her loved ones believed in. And then it happened, the second battle, as Harry tumbled out of Hagrid's arms, still alive, and the fighting began once more. With more ferocity than ever, Cathy yanked her hand out of George's, and before anyone could stop her, ran into the thick of battle.

She was fighting again. Fighting for the lives of those she loved. Fighting for those who'd lost their lives to this cause. She was doing just what she'd been doing since this whole mess started, and what she'd been trained to do since she'd joined the resistance movement. She no longer cared if she died in the process, as long as she took as many of them down with her as she could.

* * *

And then they were all in the Great Hall, watching Harry and Voldemort locked in the deciding duel. But just like that, the foe was vanquished, and they all saw him, his followers and enemies alike, die like any human would. And Cathy found herself still alive, even then.

Predictably, the Death Eaters all attempted to flee, some succeeding, but pursued by those who used to work for the ministry. Everyone else looked about themselves for a moment, the realization of what had just happened, taking time to sink in after years of living in fear. Finally, cheers erupted and everyone reunited with friends and loved ones they'd fought alongside. The trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, had slipped away, perhaps to deal with the events on their own. Cathy was attempting to do the same when her eyes met George's standing far off to her right. He approached her, and she stood still, suddenly unsure what to do.

The closer he got, the more she noticed the growing broken look on his face, as though he was keeping it together just for her, just so she could too. Finally, he reached her, and took her hand in his.

"Where are you going?" he asked. In that one question, Cathy knew he meant a host of others, but she was glad he'd simply said that, and that he knew she'd understand what he meant. _Will you be alright? What will you do? Where will you go now that home will not be what it was?_ And the worst one of all: _Are you leaving? Will you come back?_

"I…don't know," Cathy answered honestly. She could return home, which would be filled with memories of her mother, but she didn't know if she'd ever be ready for that. She could send for her aunt and uncle, or her grandparents, either would be glad to have her with them for a while, but she didn't want to impose, and it would've felt claustrophobic to spend her days in a house too full of other people. And she knew it wasn't their fault, but they would never understand what she was going through. George ran his thumb along her palm.

"Stay with me," he almost pleaded, and Cathy knew no matter where he went, Fred's memory would follow George. The Burrow where they grew up together and even shared a room. And the flat they shared above their joke shop.

Cathy let her hand slip from George's, and she stepped closer to him, until she could wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tucked her head under his chin. They stood like that for the longest time, until Mrs. Weasley found them, then she and Cathy embraced too, because she'd just lost a child, and Cathy had just lost a mother.

* * *

The End

(At the risk of ruining the mood: Should I write an epilogue?)

* * *

**Chapter 9: After the Storm**

* * *

Aaaaand cue epilogue with super cheesy title :)

* * *

_After the Storm_

"Ron!" Cathy exclaimed as she entered the joke shop after closing time. She ran up to him as he moved in her direction to lock up shop.

"Cathy! You're back? Weren't you here just two months ago?" Ron asked, hugging her back.

"I stayed just long enough to finish my work for Richard. He'll survive without me," Cathy replied, rolling her eyes. Two years after the war, she'd found work as a naturalist's intern and began travelling the world helping him finish his study on the migratory patterns of North American Thunderbirds and its effect on the ecology of the places the giant birds would visit. It had been two years, so far, since she'd started working with him, though she'd come home for a week every so often.

"He's in the cellar. I wouldn't go in there if I were you," said Ron.

"I'll take my chances," replied Cathy, "Can I leave my bags here for now?"

Cathy cautiously entered the workspace in the cellar, choking on the putrid smell. Beneath the shop was George's work area for particularly troublesome merchandise. Cathy saw him look up from one of the work tables, looking ridiculous with the massive gas mask over his mouth and nose.

"Cathy!" he exclaimed, the mask muffling his voice. He climbed the cellar steps in leaps and enveloped her in a warm embrace.

"George," Cathy choked, trying to hold her breath, "You smell like a bag of farts in a tub of sewer sludge."

"Is that anyway to greet me after being gone for so long?" he teased, then close the cellar door behind them and whipped off the gas mask. "Oh, yeah, you're right. I stink."

"George, Cathy, I'll be off, then. Hermione'll be coming home soon," said Ron, waving at them as he left through the shop's back exit.

"Bye, Ron," said Cathy.

"Thanks for helping me close up," said George, waving goodbye. "Now…" he began when Ron was gone, waggling his eyebrows.

"George, I have news," Cathy said, wasting no time. "I'm taking the ministry job."

"What? But I thought you loved the travelling?"

"Yeah, well, I think two years' worth will be enough for now. Besides, maybe this time I could travel for fun, instead of work," Cathy watched him carefully.

"You can stay here?" he asked, expectantly. Cathy let go of his hands, not aware that she'd held them in the first place.

"I think it's better to raise a child in a stable environment. Don't you?" she asked, looking away at the last second.

"What?"

"George," she looked back up at him, "Remember when I was here just two months ago…?" He simply stared in shock.

"We were careful! I mean most of the time…" he said after a while.

"Well, once is enough…" Cathy said, looking away again. He finally noticed her trepidation, and his mouth melted into a smirk.

"I was going to wait until you got back for Christmas, but…I guess you beat me to it," he said, "Hold on", and he ran up to his flat above the shop. Cathy waited awkwardly, moving to sit on the stool by the register.

"Here!" he exclaimed as he reemerged, out of breath. He was brandishing a small black box. "I know we said we'd wait until you were done travelling, but I wanted to…I mean it doesn't matter now, just-", he paused and shook his head, laughing at how tongue-tied he was.

"Cathy…" he opened the box to reveal a sparkling engagement ring. Cathy gasped, mouth and eyes wide open as her gaze flicked from the ring to George and back.

"Oh, wait," said George as he hurriedly got on one knee. "Marry me? Please?"

* * *

_A while later…_

"Oh, and you'll never believe who else is pregnant," said George as they got ready for bed.

"Who? How far along are they?"

"Ginny's a few weeks along," he said bluntly, grinning at Cathy's stunned expression. Sunday family gatherings at the Burrow were going to be even livelier than usual.


End file.
